History's Most Chaotic Disciple
by Nobody of Note
Summary: Ranma finds himself right in the middle of the fighting involving Ragnarok, the Shinpaku Alliance, and Yomi.
1. It Begins

**Note: **This takes place after the end of the manga for Ranma and before it's start for Kenichi.

* * *

So far Cologne had been having a rare peaceful day. Shampoo and Mousse were both out somewhere and the most exciting thing that had happened was a customer who hadn't realized he'd forgotten his wallet until after he'd already eaten. In short, it was a miserable day. She wasn't sure how many decades she had left, and the chaos around Ranma was one of the few real joys left to her. Of course this was Nerima, so the quiet couldn't possibly last too long, but she was still getting quite tempted to go stir up some trouble herself.

It turned out Cologne didn't need to make the effort, as Ranma chose that moment to waltz into the Nekohanten, quickly scanning the area before relaxing when he saw that only Cologne and a couple of customers were present. Perfect, wherever Ranma was, excitement was all but certain to follow.

"Did you need something, son-in-law?" Cologne asked.

"I'm just trying to shake Shampoo," Ranma answered. "I figured this will be the last place she'll look for me."

Cologne sighed a little at that. She'd have loved to bring Ranma into the tribe. Unfortunately, even if they wouldn't admit it themselves, it was clear Akane and Ranma had developed feelings for each other. After one spectacularly interrupted wedding attempt that she sincerely wished she'd been witness to, a successful joining in the near future seemed likely. Still, Cologne had been around long enough to know that even couples far more in love than those two didn't always work out.

The real problem was Shampoo herself. She'd become even more desperate since the wedding, and it wasn't endearing her to the young martial artist at all. Even if Akane and Ranma did break apart, it was looking more and more of a long shot that he would turn his attention to Cologne's great-granddaughter. She'd try having _another_ talk with Shampoo, but the damage was probably already done quite some time ago.

Ah well, even if she was all but giving up on Ranma, there was no need to let him know that. He was too much fun to tease. Her chance at getting a start with that now was brushed aside, as Ranma's talent for attracting trouble proved to be in overdrive today, as evidenced by Ryoga's entrance into restaurant.

"I should have known you'd run off to Ucchan's the first chance you got," Ryoga yelled accusingly at Ranma as soon as he spotted him. "Even after nearly marrying her, you still can't stop chasing other women."

"This is the Nekohanten, moron," Ranma retorted, causing Ryoga to look around in confusion. Cologne waved at the boy when he looked her way. Despite being temporarily thrown off balance, Ryoga quickly regained his mental footing.

"That's even worse!" he cried out. "I'll make you pay for cheating on Akane!"

Bull-rushing Ranma, Ryoga took a swing at him. Not missing a beat, Ranma leaped lightly over the blow, landing on Ryoga's head. Twisting around, he bent over so that he was looking at Ryoga eye to eye. "Calm down, Ryoga," he said in exasperation. "I'm actually trying to avoid Shampoo."

"In her own home?" Ryoga snarled. "How stupid to you think I am?"

Grabbing an unoccupied table Ryoga swung it in an attempt to smash Ranma off of his head. Ranma, however, had already seen it coming and had taken off in a jump that would send him over the table's arc. Reacting to Ranma's dodge, Ryoga quickly converted his swing into a toss, fired the table straight after Ranma.

Cologne shook her head at this. Ryoga was already too worked up and it was affecting his judgment. This wasn't going to be a very interesting fight if things stayed like this. Ranma of course easily grabbed the table and pushed himself out if its path midair. The table continued upward, shattering in an impressive display of splinters, wood fragments, and sawdust.

"One of you is going to pay for that," she barked out on principle, even if she wasn't terribly concerned with the cost. Still, it might be best to get them out of the Nekohanten while the building was yet standing. She'd heard what had happened to the Saotome home at the wedding.

The sound of creaking from above gave the first hint the damage from the last attack wasn't finished yet. The cloud of sawdust from the impact site cleared just quick enough to reveal the damage the ceiling had taken before it cracked and opened up a small hole under from the weight of a large chest that fell through the newly creating opening. Cologne was already hurrying over to protect the chest she knew had come from her room, but needn't have worried as Ranma casually caught it with one hand, adjusting it so that none of the items sitting on top of it so much as lost their balance before setting it gently onto the floor.

"Thank you son-in-law," she said in genuine gratitude while simultaneously staring down a somewhat sheepish Ryoga to ensure he didn't try anything else yet. "That chest contained priceless amazon artifacts, some of which are quite fragile."

Unable to shake the sudden feeling that something was off, Cologne began to carefully examine the few nicknacks on top of the chest to see if they were damaged. That's when it hit her. There should have been one more item on top of this particular chest. She'd been so engrossed in her task, she'd barely paid any mind to Ranma jumping back into the air, but now she saw just why he had done so.

The missing item, a dark red gem about the size of her admittedly small fist was falling through the damaged ceiling. It must have been knocked off the chest or caught on something and only slid free now, leading to Ranma's to current move to grab it in an unnecessarily flashy manner.

"Stop!" she called out in it warning, considering for a moment trying to knock him away. Instead she chose the safer decision of moving in the other direction.

If he'd intended to listen to her warning at all, he didn't do so soon enough, as his hand soon touched the gem. There was a bright flash of light that blinded Cologne for about a second. When it cleared, there was no sign of Ranma. The gem, now a brighter shade of red, fell to the ground and bounced a couple of times before coming to a halt.

"Is he … dead?" Ryoga asked, turning white as a ghost.

"Nothing like that, merely trapped inside," she answered, relieved she'd had the presence of mind to get out of the way. If she'd been caught up in that there she'd have to trust the fools around here to send a message back the village instead of doing something stupid like trying to break the thing open. "I have something upstairs that can get him out. Just remember the next time you want to start tearing up this place that it could have been a lot worse."

Leaving the gem behind in case it was still active, Cologne hopped straight up through the hole and landed in her bedroom. She then scanned it, trying to remember where she'd put the blue gem that would free Ranma in as safe a way as possible. It was a shame it had turned out like this. The nice shiny gem placed in a visible location had been meant as a trap for Happosai if he ever decided to add to his collection of stolen amazon treasures.

That plan was a good as ruined as news would undoubtedly get back to him now that Ranma, Ryoga, and the restaurant's customers had all witnessed its powers. And to top it all off, her memory really was failing her as to where exactly the item she needed was. She knew she had brought it with her, but she had far too much junk here. It's not like she couldn't get him out without it, but there were risks involved in that.

"He's really going to be alright, isn't he?" Ryoga called up from below. "There aren't any weird side effects or anything?"

"He'll be fine," Cologne answered, annoyed at the interruption. "I'm just having trouble finding the other gem."

"I'll bring Ranma up and help you look," Ryoga announced impatiently, and she was so distracted by her own thoughts it took a few seconds before she caught on to the implications of that statement.

"Ryoga! Stay right where you are!" Cologne yelled out, hopping down through the hole and running to the Nekohanten's entrance. To her dismay, she saw no sign of the boy along the street outside. It was probably far too much to hope that he was merely wandering the Nekohanten, but she quickly checked that anyway. Well, there was nothing left to do but wait for Ryoga to eventually find his way back.

Cologne was fortunate that it only took Ryoga two days to do so this time, as her sanity might not have lasted much longer. She never should have admitted to knowing anything about where Ranma was, as half of Nerima seemed to visit her hourly just to see if there had been an update. She was convinced this was some divine punishment for not appreciating the calm she'd been blessed with prior to this current chaos beginning. But now Ryoga was back and he'd even arrived at one of the rare moments when Cologne was alone in the restaurant.

"Finally, hand the gem over," Cologne ordered, having long since lost any patience.

"Of course," Ryoga replied. "Sorry about getting a little turned around there."

Reaching into his pocket, he treated Cologne to the rather gut-wrenching sight of his hand going right through a gaping hole torn in the side of his pants.

"Huh?" Ryoga said in confusion. "When did that happen?"

In a flash Cologne had darted up to Ryoga, stuck the narrow end of her staff under his chin and lifted the boy a couple feet off the ground. "Where did you last have the gem?" she asked frostily.

"It was just this morning," Ryoga answered, seeming only slightly bothered by his awkward position. The worry was clear in his voice, but it didn't seem to have much to do with his own safety. "I was in Hokkaido, so it must be somewhere between there and here."

"Give me details. What did the buildings look like? Were there any landmarks, street signs, or anything memorable like that?" she asked, anger starting to boil through as she had no faith whatsoever in the accuracy of his previous claim.

"I wasn't paying much attention to that," Ryoga informed her. "Anyway, why are you so worried? Don't you have some crazy amazon thingamabob that can find him wherever he is?"

"Even if I were willing to acknowledge something like that existed, it wouldn't work now," Cologne answered. "If any human deserved that prison we would simply kill them. No, it was designed for creatures that were hard to deal with in a permanent manner. And one thing we didn't want them to be was easy to find by those who might want to release them."

"So what do we do?" Ryoga asked her, his aura visibly turning green as he fell into his all too common state of depression.

"I will be going over amazon records to see if there's anything that might help us," she replied. "You will get back out there and find Ranma if you have to tear the earth apart. And you won't even think of showing your face around here again until you find him."

With that said, she pulled her staff away from Ryoga, quickly twirling it around and hitting him it the gut with the thick gnarled end of her staff before he'd touched the ground. Her aim was true as she sent Ryoga flying through the door and out into the street. The boy always seemed able to find Ranma eventually somehow. She only hoped the artifact didn't interfere with that ability. Thankfully it at least appeared valuable, so if anyone found the item, it was likely to turn up somewhere. She only hoped it surfaced soon. She didn't know how many more days like the last two she could take.

* * *

As Ranma touched the gem there was a flash of light and the next thing he knew, Cologne, Ryoga, and the Nekohanten were gone, and he was standing just outside a small hut with nothing but open plains around it facing two tall, well-muscled figures, both dressed in some type of loincloth. One of them was a white-haired man with a beard that went about halfway down his chest. The other was a blond teen who looked like he might be a couple years older than Ranma. The bearded guy tried saying something to Ranma that sounded sort of like Chinese, but not any Chinese Ranma had ever heard spoken.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you," Ranma replied, hoping at least one of them understood Japanese. His words seem to surprise both of them.

"Now this is interesting," the guy spoke again, this time in near perfect Japanese. "Can you explain to me how someone who speaks modern Japanese got trapped in an ancient Chinese artifact in the middle of India?"

"This is India?" Ranma asked in complete surprise, finally noticing that the man was holding that same gem he'd just been about to grab. "I was trapped in that thing?"

"Yes, and yes," he answered. "Now I am still curious as to why you would be trapped in it, and why you're here."

"Look, I don't know how I ended up in India, but I was just having a harmless fight with a buddy of mine back in Japan that happened to bust up the place a bit," he answered. "It belonged to this ancient Chinese crone who owned all sorts of crazy stuff. Well that thing comes falling down from the hole in the roof and the next thing I know I'm standing right here. Now if you don't mind my asking, who are you, and why do you have whatever that thing is?"

"Forgive my rudeness," he replied. "My name is Sehrul Rahman, and this is my disciple, Ethan Stanley. When news reached me that some sort of mystical gem had been found nearby, I had to investigate. I recognized it at once, but was surprised to sense that it was a human trapped inside. I was curious to see just what sort of man had needed such a prison. I admit you're not at all what I expected, but then it appears that your ordeal may have been due to an accident."

"Yeah, well, thanks for getting me out of there I suppose," Ranma told him, not wanting to sound ungrateful, "Name's Saotome Ranma by the way, but now that we've exchanged greetings, I've got a long trip back home, so I should get started with that."

"Of course," he answered, "but perhaps you'd consider doing me a favor first. Even before you mentioned your fight, I noticed you were a martial artist of some skill. Ethan here rarely gets to practice with anyone other than myself. It would be of some benefit to him if you would agree to a match."

"Sure," Ranma agreed readily. "I'm always up for a good fight. Let's see if he can give me one."

If the larger boy took any offense to his minor taunt he didn't show it as he stoically took a defensive stance. "I'm ready to start whenever you are," Ethan announced.

"Just come at me whenever you feel like it," Ranma replied, beginning to casually stretch rather than taking his own stance, in hopes it would anger his opponent into making a rash attack.

Ethan stayed calm, but nonetheless didn't wait long before taking Ranma up on his offer, charging at him and opening with a series of punches. Ranma started the fight by simply evading, trying to get a measure of his opponents skills. From what he could tell, Ethan wasn't half bad. He didn't seem to be up to Ryoga's level, but an exact measure was difficult until he really got serious. For now he'd have to guess somewhere around Mousse in strength.

Although he did notice a few oddities in his attacks. One was that contrary to his calm nature, his attacks were quite ferocious. More importantly though, he was tended to repeatedly direct his attacks toward several very precise points. Ranma's gut told him to make sure those attacks never got through, as he probably was targeting pressure points. That raised his danger a little, but still nothing Ranma couldn't handle.

"So, are you going to start the fight, or are we just going to continue with the warmups?" Ranma mocked, still getting no reaction.

His taunts for once proving ineffective and getting bored with just dodging, Ranma decided to go on the offensive. Getting a running start he leaped into a flying kick. Ethan brought up a single arm to block it, and as big and muscled as he was, that might have been enough if Ranma's attack were really that simple. However, instead of the collision Ethan undoubtedly expected, Ranma bent the knee of his lead leg the instant his foot touched the defending arm, letting the rest of his body continue its forward momentum unabated.

Surprise was evident on his opponent's face, and before Ethan could regain his mental balance, Ranma lashed out with the leg he'd been holding back, going over Ethan's guard and smashing into the older teen's forehead. It wasn't hard enough to take him out of the fight, but it did disorient him a bit as he staggered back a couple of feet.

Ranma, meanwhile landed and dashed right back at Ethan, determined to keep the pressure up while he had the advantage. He immediately went into an Amaguriken barrage, nailing Ethan with a flurry of punches all across his head and torso. This was enough to cause him to fall backwards, landing hard on his back.

Seeing Ethan was still conscious, Ranma dove at the prone form cocking back his arm and releasing all his strength into one massive punch. It slammed into the ground just to the right of Ethan's head, throwing up a cloud of dust and leaving a small crater at the impact. Ethan just looked up in stunned silence at where Ranma knelt on top of his chest.

"I believe this is my victory," Ranma boasted getting a nod from Ethan after only a short delay. With that resolved, Ranma got off the other boy and helped pull him to his feet.

"Don't feel too bad," he told him. "You're actually pretty good. It's no shame to loose to someone as awesome as me."

"That was quite impressive," Sehrul said from behind him. Or was it Rahman? He had no idea which order they put names in India. "Now that I've seen you fight, perhaps you'd grant me a second favor."

"I'll at least hear you out," Ranma replied noncommittally.

"Very well then," he continued. "I was hoping you would consider traveling with us for a while. You're even more skilled than I'd thought and I can hardly think of a better way to help my disciple than to enlist you as his sparring partner. Of course I would provide you personal training in compensation."

"Oh, and how good are you?" Ranma asked.

In response, he simply felt the other man's battle aura rise to level's he'd only felt the likes of which from Cologne and Happosai before, holding there briefly before fading away.

"I assure you, I am quite skilled," he said simply.

Having witnessed that, Ranma's eyes sparkled a bit at the thought of training under him. Given that he didn't recognize Ethan's style, that made him all the more eager to learn more. Especially if he really did know pressure point attacks. Cologne could be really stingy about what techniques she would or wouldn't teach him, and he hadn't been able to get that out of her yet. Still, he couldn't let himself be completely blinded by the offer.

"Believe me, it's a very tempting," Ranma told him. "But everyone back home is probably worried sick about me. I really should get back."

"We could head to civilization first and get in contact with them," he suggested, the idea of which got Ranma seriously considering taking him up on it.

They'd probably all hop on a plane and follow him out here, but who knows how much he could learn before they caught up to him. Still, as much as he hated it at times, Nerima really was starting to feel like a home, and he just didn't feel quite ready to toss that aside and go back to a life on the road just yet.

"I'm sorry, but I really do have to head home," Ranma answered. "Although if you could come back to Japan with me, I'd be happy to take you up on your offer there."

"I'm afraid I have some business to take care of that will keep me here for a while yet," he responded, regret clear in his voice. "Perhaps sometime in the future, however."

"Well, thanks again then," Ranma said, giving him a small salute. "I hope you do visit sometime. Farewell until then."

Using the sun as a guide, Ranma set off to the east. He was kind of looking forward to the look on everyone's face when he got back after this.

* * *

"What do you think of Ranma?" he asked his disciple after the mysterious Japanese boy in the Chinese outfit had departed.

"It's almost frightening how good he is," Ethan answered. "He must be a few years younger than I am and I didn't stand a chance against him."

"Obviously he is quite talented," Sehrul agreed, "but reaching that level sooner does not necessarily mean he will always be your better. There are many paths a martial artist can follow. I think perhaps yours should follow alongside his for the time being."

"How?" Ethan asked. "He did turn down your offer."

"Easily. Follow him," he told his pupil. "I can't leave India just yet, but there's no reason you have to stay. Track him, ambush him, press him in any way you can. Force him to use to show as much of his skill as you can manage and learn whatever you can from him. Experience such as that will help your development more than training at this stage of your growth."

"Very well," Ethan answered without argument, as obedient a disciple as always.

Sehrul smiled at the thought. Whatever strange fate had led Ranma to him, he wasn't going to pass this opportunity up. It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the boy either. Someday he could be a very useful addition to Yami if they could only recruit him into their ranks.

* * *

In a way, Ranma's journey was quite nostalgic, especially when he crossed into China. Traveling the countryside, getting ambushed repeatedly along the way. Ranma may have decided he didn't want to give up Nerima long term, but a vacation like this was actually quite nice. He enjoyed the fights even beyond as a means to keep him sharp. Ethan may not be that dangerous in a fair fight, but he was clever and determined, proving himself quite adept at giving himself the advantage in a fight. He had a few good chats with the boy along the way too, even if he refused to teach Ranma anything without his master's permission.

He'd use traps, set his ambushes in areas that limited Ranma's advantage in mobility, and even dig up some other martial artists with a bit of skill to provide a distraction. He wouldn't admit it to Ethan, but there were a couple of real close calls mixed in there. Although for all his deviousness, he hadn't yet figured out Ranma's curse. That was partially because Ranma was doing his best to hide that particular embarrassment.

It also helped that he managed to con a few shopkeepers out of some new outfits, not easy to do when his Chinese made Shampoo's Japanese look good he might add. Some quick speed changing whenever his curse got particularly annoying at least prevented him from noticing the girl in baggy clothes who always seemed to be wearing whatever Ranma last had. Still, as many close calls as he'd had, and as much as his girl form's red hair stuck out, it was only a matter of time until he got suspicious. Thankfully magical curse than turns someone into a girl isn't usually the first conclusion people jumped to.

As much as he was enjoying his time off from everyone back home, it had to end eventually. After a little over two months, he reached the Sea of Japan and began his swim back to his native country. As good as he'd gotten, it wasn't even really a challenge this time around, and he soon found himself climbing to shore on a deserted beach. From there it only took him a couple more days to reach Nerima, finally arriving at the Tendo residence late in the afternoon. He quickly changed into his favorite outfit with the red silk shirt to maximize the effect of his surprise reappearance after his months away.

Deciding he was ready, he waltzed up to the entrance and let himself in, already imagining the shocked expressions he was about to bear witness to. To his disappointment the place appeared to be empty. Although looking around, it had changed a lot since he'd last been here. They must have really redecorated while he'd been missing. Ranma was about to start searching the house for any signs of the Tendos or his father when an unknown girl about his own age and wearing a martial arts dogi walked down the stairs.

"If you want to sign up for martial arts lessons, you should go to the dojo," she told him.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked the black-haired girl, "and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Tendo Ranko, and this is my home," she said, her voice turning angry. "And you have a lot of nerve asking me that after you barge in here uninvited."

Ranma was confused by this turn of events. Could they have gone so crazy with him gone they were bringing in imposters? Maybe he should have called first after all. Especially given that this girl didn't even look anything like his girl side. Actually, she looked a good bit like Akane before her hair had been cut short. Was it possible they really did have a cousin named Tendo Ranko?

"Ah, I recognize who you're supposed to be, Ranma, right?" she asked him.

"That's me," he confirmed with a smile, glad they were finally getting somewhere. He could figure out who this strange girl was after he'd located everyone else. He was expecting that to be simple now that she'd realized who he was, but instead the supposed Ranko's face darkened in anger.

"Listen, buddy," she began, marching up and getting right in his face. "You're not the first nut to come around here claiming to be Saotome Ranma back from the dead, and let me assure you of one thing. It's not in the least bit tolerated around here. If you have any hope of leaving in one piece, I suggest you go now."

They thought he was dead? Ranma was really kicking himself for treating this like a game, but you think they'd be used to crazy stuff like this happening by now. He never dreamed they'd give up on him so soon, but maybe Cologne had thought that crazy gem had just blown him up or something.

"Look, I don't know who's been around here before, and I'm sorry I didn't call or anything, but I really am Ranma," he assured her, not seeming to convince her in the least.

"Are you even really trying?" she asked. "I admit you probably look a lot like he did, but that was like twenty years ago. Did you even stop to think he might have gotten a little older in that time?"

"Twenty years?" Ranma parroted, starting to get a little freaked out. Even with all the crazy stuff that happens to him, he couldn't possibly have been gone for twenty years, could he? No this girl was just had some angle. Probably another fiancee who thought this would give her some advantage. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've only been gone a few months!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied, her face softening. "You're not playing a sick prank, are you? You're just a little troubled. Why don't you come with me and I'll get you some help."

She reached out to grab his arm, but Ranma easily batted it away. Not deterred, she made a second attempt, moving much more swiftly, but Ranma again knocked it aside, more angrily this time. Not willing to put up with this anymore he advanced menacingly on the girly claiming to be Tendo Ranko, hoping to intimidate her into admitting the truth.

"I want to know what's going on here, and I want to know now," he demanded.

His intimidation tactic was having an obvious effect as she backpedaled away from him, fear evident on her face. "Mom! Dad! Help!" she cried out, rather than giving in and admitting her deception as he'd hoped.

Ranma heard footsteps running from the direction of the dojo, followed by the door sliding open and revealing two more dogi clad individuals, these ones with faces he recognized immediately, even if his mind refused to accept what his eyes were showing him. The two figures looked just as stunned by his presence as Ranma was by theirs. The one that looked like, but couldn't possibly be an older Hibiki Ryoga rushed at him at a speed the only further proved it wasn't someone as slow as Ryoga, engulfed him in a bear hug, and lifted him off the ground.

"Ranma! I just knew that stupid gem couldn't stop you forever," he cried out joyously. "Twenty-one years though? You must be slipping."

"Can't breathe," Ranma managed to squeak out under the iron grip that certainly matched the face, causing a quick release on the pressure as he dropped to the floor.

"Is it really you?" asked the Akane lookalike ... no ... asked Akane. He just couldn't deny the facts anymore when they were right in front of him. They were both clearly adults now, and Akane had let her hair grow out a little, if not as long as she'd had it when they'd first met, but it was obvious who they were. Ryoga was even wearing the exact same bandanas he always did, despite it not matching his dogi at all.

"Yeah, it's me," Ranma answered weakly. "But twenty-one years ..."

At his words Akane took her own turn wrapping him in a hug, even if this one wasn't nearly as painful. At least not physically.

"I'm glad you're back," she said as she released him. "Ranko, why don't you go keep the students occupied for a bit out in the dojo?"

"No way," Ranko shot back. "I want to know what's going on here."

"There will be plenty of time to explain later," Akane insisted. "Your father and I need a few minutes to talk to Ranma, but we can't just abandon our students."

"Fine," Ranko agreed, heading out to the dojo and leaving the three of them alone. For his part, Ranma's shock was quickly turning to anger, and almost as soon as she was gone he turned on Ryoga.

"So how long after I'd disappeared did you wait until you went back to chasing Akane?" Ranma accused him. "Did abandoning Akari even factor into your decision?"

The guilt on Ryoga's face didn't lesson Ranma's anger at all, but Akane intervened before he could say anything further.

"It wasn't like that at all," she told him. "If anything, I was the one doing the pursuing."

"What, why?" Ranma asked, hurt by the admission and looking for a way to lash back. "He's ... he's ..."

"In case you were going to say P-chan, she already knows," Ryoga interrupted. "I know you have every right to be upset, and I won't risk letting you break your word in a moment of anger."

Ranma hadn't quite gotten to that point, but he's not certain he wouldn't have said that if the thought had occurred to him. He'd known Ryoga had always had a thing for Akane, but why would Akane betray him like that?

"As for why it happened, it's a bit complicated, and it hardly occurred overnight," Akane explained. "It had been more than three years since the incident. Even Cologne and Shampoo had all but given up. Yet Ryoga hadn't let up searching for you in the least. All he did revolved around finding you. Akari had long since dumped him because of his obsession. He didn't have any life of his own. Honestly, seeing him working so hard when nearly everyone else had abandoned you, I began to fall for him a little. Plus, I felt someone needed to help him before he completely self-destructed over it."

"That's when I told her I was P-chan," Ryoga added simply.

"Yeah, and I nearly killed him over it," Akane said with a laugh. "Until I realized the jerk was deliberately trying to push me away because he thought he didn't deserve me."

"I didn't, and I still don't," Ryoga interjected, smiling at her in a way that made Ranma sick to his stomach.

"He was always being like that," Akane continued. "He even married into the Tendo clan because, and I quote 'I single-handedly ended the Saotome line, so it's only fair the Hibiki line end as well.'" That last bit was given in a clear mockery of Ryoga's voice.

"Don't forget that the Tendo dojo got to stay in the Tendo family this way," Ryoga quickly added, clearly uncomfortable with Akane's teasing.

"I know this is out of the blue for you, but please remember that it was over four years for us before we were married," Akane told him. "And we'll do anything we can to help you get back on your feet. Your old room is still unoccupied, and you can stay as long as you'd like."

Ranma knew it was a gracious offer, but he didn't want to stay. He wanted to go back to his own time with _his_ Akane. He was at a loss for how to respond at all, but was saved from having to do so by Ranko entering again.

"The students are getting impatient, Dad," she informed him. "You really should get out there."

"Can't we just cancel today's lesson?" Ryoga complained. "This is kind of important."

"So is your job," Akane berated him. "You'll have plenty of time to talk to Ranma when you're finished. I'll take him to see Shampoo while you're busy."

"I'm going with," Ranko insisted in response to Akane's declaration.

"Fine," Akane agreed. "But take your father out to the dojo first."

Grabbing his hand, Ranko began to do just that, leaving Ranma alone with Akane. She really had aged well. If he'd heard correctly, she must be nearly forty now, but she hardly looked thirty. Mostly, she looked just like the Akane he'd always known, as uncute as ever.

"You actually want to visit Shampoo?" Ranma asked, trying to get his thoughts away from that depressing line.

"I know it may be hard to believe, but we became pretty close over the years," Akane informed him. "And our daughters are the best of friends."

"So Shampoo is married too?" Ranma asked, finding the news bitter despite his lack of interest in the purple haired girl. "Did she hook up with Mousse or something?"

"Hah, as if," Akane said with a snort. "Although you do know her husband. It's Kumon Ryu. He runs a rival dojo across the street from the Nekohanten."

Ranko returned as he was still trying to process that latest bit of news. Was there anyone who hadn't just replaced him while he'd been away? Whether in deference to his own mood, or just not thinking of anything to say themselves, the three walked in silence to the Nekohanten. It was saved from becoming too awkward by how short the trip was. Soon they found themselves entering the restaurant, which was fairly crowded with the dinner rush. He quickly spotted Shampoo waiting tables and Cologne back toward the kitchen area.

"Ranma!" Shampoo cried the moment she'd spotted him, before examining the crowd around her. "Everyone out! The food is free, but we're officially closed!"

Not one of their customers were foolish enough to argue, not even wasting time to grab a last few bites as they hurried out the doors. Meanwhile Cologne hopped over on her staff, joining the small group.

"I can't believe you're here. How did you get free?" Shampoo asked.

"Some old Indian guy found the gem and broke me out," Ranma said. "That's really all I know."

Looking over Shampoo, she still had the same figure she always had, and with her more mature looks, that like Akane looked younger than her years, she could have easily passed off as some kind of supermodel or movie star. As odd as it seemed, hearing Shampoo speak Japanese properly actually was weirder to him than her having aged. Still, he supposed she would have learned how after all this time.

Cologne, on the other hand, was the first person who didn't seem changed at all. Maybe she had an extra wrinkle or two, or had shrunk another fraction of an inch, but Ranma wasn't certain he wasn't just imagining it while trying to find a difference. If he'd run into Cologne first, he wouldn't have suspected anything was off.

"I would have preferred you were freed sooner, but I must admit, you certainly chose an intriguing time to reappear," Cologne told him, then turned to the stairs and raised her voice. "Reiko, get down here."

A girl hurried down the stairs, one who must have been Shampoo's previously mentioned daughter. Her long hair was exactly the same color as her mother's if done in a simple pony tail instead of the more complicated style her mother still employed. She also had a figure nearly as impressive as her Shampoo's. Glancing over at Ranko, there was no doubt whose daughter was whose on that front, even if Ranko wasn't quite as flat as Akane. Continuing his comparison, Reiko looked to be a couple of inches taller then the three other non-ancient females in the room, each of which were too close to rank their height.

The one final thing that caught his eye was that Reiko was wearing a normal looking shirt and pants the likes of which Japan had borrowed from the West, instead of the Chinese style clothing the other members of her tribe had always favored. Combined with her name, it seemed a bit out of place.

"Reiko?" Ranma asked hoping for some clarification. "I'd have thought you'd have given her some weird Joketsuzoku name."

"It was a compromise," Shampoo told him. "In Japan she's legally known as Kumon Reiko. Back in the village however, her name is recorded as ..."

"Mom!" Reiko interrupted to protest loudly. "Don't tell him!"

"Tsk, tsk," Cologne muttered. "To think you'd still be so ashamed of such a traditional and respected name as ..."

"Granny!" Reiko cried out, once again cutting off the revelation of the actual name.

"They like to tease her, but even I haven't found out what her Chinese name is," Ranko whispered in his ear, making Ranma all the more curious.

"Well, if you don't want everyone to find out what it is, you'd better cooperate," Cologne told her. "This here is Saotome Ranma."

"_The _Saotome Ranma?" Reiko asked, sizing him up.

"Yeah, but that reaction is getting a little old already," Ranma grumbled.

"And this is my great-great-granddaughter," Cologne told Ranma. "She prefers to be known as Reiko, and to my eternal delight, has proven herself to be as talented at martial arts as you are."

Ranma's balked at that statement. He might, at times, find people that were stronger or faster or even more skilled than he currently was, but that was all only temporary because no one was as talented as him.

"Be careful Ranma," Akane warned him. "She's trying to bait you."

"Feh, I can see that," Ranma declared. "We've hardly said two words to each other and she's already trying to trick me into getting another kiss of marriage."

"That thought had crossed my mind," Cologne admitted. "If you'd come only a year or two sooner, I'd definitely have tried. As things are, I'm afraid you have no hope of defeating Reiko in combat, so there's no real point."

"Hey, I could beat her if I wanted," Ranma protested.

"Maybe if we were having an ego contest," Reiko countered. "But in martial arts, I'd wipe the floor with you."

"I have to agree with Reiko," Cologne answered. "As I already mentioned, she's as talented as you are. Added to that, she's the better part of a year older, and more importantly, rather than your fool of a father, I've been training her personally her entire life."

"I think your memory must be going in your old age," Ranma told Cologne, "because you've forgotten just how good I really am. Good enough that I'm not going to be tricked into a fight I know I'd win. The last thing I need right now is another fiancee."

"If you want to prove you're the better fighter, there are ways to do that without earning the kiss of marriage," Cologne informed him. "I'll let you call an end to the fight whenever you wish, no questions asked. That should prevent any trouble unless you don't think you're good enough to show your strength without finishing the fight."

"I'm plenty good enough," Ranma insisted, hearing a sigh from Akane to his side. Well she could sigh all she wanted. He knew this was what Cologne wanted, but he still stood by what he said.

"No, you're not," Reiko declared just as confidently. "But you're not even going to get the chance. I don't have to accept the challenge, and I see no reason to play along with this."

"You've complained to me before that everyone around here still treats Ranma like some legendary figure that no one can match," Cologne countered. "While, here's your chance to prove you're better."

"Don't bother," Shampoo added melodramatically. "Can't you see she's so afraid of losing she won't even take that risk? It's like I've said before, growing up in Japan is making her weak. We should have moved back to the village when she first insisted we stop calling her ..."

"Fine!" Reiko growled out quickly. "Since I have a mother who will stoop to blackmailing her own daughter, I guess I'll do it. It's not as if I'm going to lose anyway."

Shampoo just giggled at that without the slightest hint of remorse.

"Come on Ranko, let's at least enjoy the show," Akane told her daughter. "They're both too stubborn to see sense now."

"No offense, Reiko, but I hope he does put up a good fight," Ranko told the other girl. "You've been beating me black and blue for so many years, I'd like to see someone our own age make you sweat a little."

"Let's at least take it outside," Ranma suggested, getting quite peeved that no one seemed to think he could actually win this. "I don't want to wake up after missing another twenty years."

"Please, Ranma, I moved everything of danger to a more secure location the very day of the accident," Cologne huffed, although he thought he caught a hint of guilt flash across her face.

"Fine then," Ranma said, getting into his typical relaxed stance designed largely to annoy his opponents. "Ready whenever you are."

He was too good to be caught off guard when Reiko charged him almost the moment he said that, but the speed at which she came at him was far beyond what he'd been anticipating. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure he could have matched the feat himself. His stance wasn't as open as it first appeared, and Ranma was able to twist his body to avoid a direct hit from her first punch, but it still clipped his shoulder hard enough to sting.

Ranma didn't like going all out against a girl, but he absolutely loathed the thought of losing to one. With that first attack showing he couldn't hold back if he wanted to avoid that fate, Ranma decided it was time to show who the real master of speed was. Driving back toward Reiko, he went into a full speed Amaguriken attack, holding nothing back in his use of the technique.

His early astonishment at Reiko's skill was easily dwarfed here when she launched into her own version of the attack, batting away every single one of his own and still getting a few extra blows of her own through that forced Ranma back and left his ribs protesting the bruising they'd just received.

"Did you seriously just try to beat me with one of my own tribe's techniques?" Reiko mocked him, and Ranma's temper did flare, if more due to having been humiliated in the speed department than in the actual taunt.

Speed was one of his greatest strengths. He certainly wasn't expecting to be at a disadvantage in that regard during this match. That threw his standard strategy right out the window. Thankfully, Ranma wasn't the type to give up, and he had other advantages to work with. He'd fought with various members of the Joketsuzoku many times and was quite familiar with their style. On the other hand, he doubted Reiko had a lot of experience against masters of Anything Goes.

With that in mind, he went back on the offensive, deliberately favoring the most esoteric and unusual techniques he'd picked up. Ones Reiko was unlikely to have any practice countering. His strategy did prove effective, but not to the degree he needed. He was no longer being overwhelmed, but as much as he hated to admit it, he was still taking more damage than she was. It was clear he couldn't turn this into a war of attrition. Ranma had to go for something big that would turn the tides.

Focusing his attentions on looking for such an opportunity cost him a little more in the balance of their exchanges, but paid off before that became a huge issue when he saw his first potential opening. Reiko had knocked away an attempted strike he'd made with his left arm, but in doing so had left a small opening in her guard. He knew she'd close it up so quickly that his only chance of getting through it was to push forward again with his left. But as close as that hand still was to her body, and with the leverage he had, he wouldn't be able to manage much more than a tap with it.

Which was exactly the key. Hoping to steal some of Ethan's techniques, he'd let his pressure point attack get through to a specific spot on his shoulder several times until he was pretty sure he had it down. That recklessness had almost led to a loss once, but it might just pay off now, as he could theoretically get through her guard and hit that point. The one problem remaining was how precise pressure points strikes were required to be. If Reiko suspected he was going for one, the slightest twist of her body could make the whole endeavor pointless.

He did have the advantage that she didn't know he could use any pressure points, but he already respected her skill enough to believe she'd pick up on the motivation if he started what would otherwise be a pointless attack. What he really needed was a distraction, and he had just the thing for that. With his newly restored confidence, he quickly began charging up a Moko Takabisha in his right hand.

She sensed the buildup immediately, and he saw her eyes lock on to his hand. Thankfully it appeared she did have some experience dealing with chi attacks, and with her focus now elsewhere, he quickly struck with his real plan of attack. His finger landed true, and the gasp of pain, gave him a sense of relief. He knew first hand how much that stung, and her reaction all but proved he'd been successful.

Not wanting to waste a perfectly good Moko Takabisha, he proceeded to finish the charge and fire it off at her right side. He saw the look of surprise on her face when the arm she was surely trying to move in her defense did nothing. With the handicap, his attack was a direct hit, sending Reiko crashing to the floor. Ranma smirked at that, ready to call off the fight, fully convinced he'd just proven himself.

"This isn't over yet!" Reiko cried angrily out as if reading his thoughts, leaping back to her feet and charging at him before he had a chance to say anything.

Ranma turned cold when he realized she was actually moving even faster and with more skill than she had been before. She'd actually been holding back against him this entire time. With Reiko lacking the use of her right arm, Ranma should be completely dominating this fight, but she was actually still matching him blow for blow. In addition, she was adjusting her style as they fought, fine tuning her ability to cover for her useless arm.

If things continued as they were going, it might actually swing back in her favor. At the thought his cold blood began to quickly boil. This was absolutely humiliating. Was this really the best he could do against an injured opponent? Not if he had anything to say about it! He'd just let himself get a little sloppy when he was confident it was over. He was going to show everyone that he was in control of this fight.

With renewed determination and redoubled focus, he made his move, sending his left fist toward her head in his most beautifully executed feint of the night. He'd completely sold it on every level and he could already see that she had bitten as he was pulling his left back. Her left arm was moving up to guard against the incoming punch, leaving her stomach wide open as the intended target for the punch from his right.

He was positioned such that he could put his whole body into it, which would surely knock the wind completely out of her. Or at least that was the plan until a change in movement proved that Reiko had employed a feint of her own. For a split second, he thought she'd seen through his own ploy, but it proved to be just a coincidence as she simultaneously ducked, twisted, and pressed forward in a manner that would have left her under his punch and inside his guard if he'd actually gone through with it.

It was now apparent that her guarding motion had simply been a veil to hide her getting into position for a nasty elbow strike that she could aim at his own gut, or his kidney if she was feeling particularly merciless. Meanwhile, Ranma's body was still fully committed to his own strike, except with her having dropped so low and turned sideways, his aim was much higher on her body.

His instincts had adjusted even further, such that before he consciously realized what he was doing, his fist was now headed straight for the side of her head. His attack was in a race against Reiko's own, but even if she was faster than he, Ranma didn't have to reverse the momentum of his fist to strike as she did with her elbow. As such, he connected first, and try as he might to recall the blow at the last second, it was too late, as Reiko was sent flying back.

Ranma rushed forward and caught her, hoping it would help, but he could already feel how limp she was. Setting her gently to the ground, he backed away from Reiko in a panic, desperately trying to think of some way to get out of this.

"Idiot. You really can't help but get yourself into messes like this, can you?" Akane asked, more in exasperation than the anger such words might have held in the past.

"Is Reiko okay?" Ranko then asked out of concern for her friend.

Cologne simply walked calmly up to the prone girl and held something under her nose. Reiko jolted up to a sitting position, shaking her head wildly in reaction.

"What happened?" she asked in confusion.

"You lost," Cologne said simply.

"This day has been amazing!" Shampoo gushed. "First Ranma comes back alive and well, and now my daughter is getting married! You have no idea how worried I was. It's so hard to find anyone even remotely tolerable in Japan, what with fewer people than ever take martial arts seriously. I was beginning to worry she'd never find anyone suitable, much less someone as perfect for her as you are!"

"Shampoo, dear, you're babbling," Cologne informed her, cutting her off. "But I admit, it is quite the match. Two of the most talented individuals I've ever met. Seeing what sort of children they might have makes me hope this old body can hold up for one more generation."

"I refuse to have anything to do with this!" Reiko insisted firmly, climbing to her feet. "This is Japan, not some backwater Chinese village! Go ahead and tell them my name, it's not worth getting forced into a marriage over!"

Ranma could actually feel Cologne's battle aura rise at that statement, as the old woman approached Reiko. "I consider myself to have been very understanding of your unusual upbringing. I won't even force you to accept to the marriage itself right off the bat. However, the Kiss of Marriage is an ancient and sacrosanct tradition. If you don't at least follow through with that much, I'll heap such humiliation upon you that you'll wonder how you ever even worried over anything as silly as a name."

The chastised look on Reiko's face worried Ranma, as he thought his unexpected ally would allow him to escape this fate yet. With that turning sour, he began to back toward the door while they were distracted, aiming instead for escape. He turned his head to check if anything was blocking his path and saw nothing. Giving Cologne one last look to make sure she wasn't watching before he bolted, he was surprised to see her nowhere in sight.

Wondering what had become of the old ghoul, his question was answered, when he felt her staff slam into his back, shooting him forward as he attempted to gain his balance. Reiko took advantage of his situation and darted forward, her incredible speed proving too much for him once again as she was through is guard and brushing her lips against his almost before he knew what was happening. It was only the faintest of contact before she backed away again, almost faster than she'd come in, her face turning a deep red as she spun around and turned her back to him.

"I only did that because Granny made me," she told him firmly. "Don't get any ideas, because as far as I'm concerned, it didn't mean anything."

"Good," Ranma agreed, grateful that at the very least Reiko didn't look as if she intended to pursue him in the same manner as her mother had, "because I feel exactly the same way. This whole exercise was pointless, old ghoul. I didn't give in for Shampoo, and I'm not going to for Reiko either."

"You couldn't have let him have just one day of peace before starting this up again, could you?" Akane asked.

"I believe in striking while the iron is hot," Cologne answered cheerfully. "Besides, I honestly didn't expect Ranma to win. Hope he could pull out one more surprise victory? Yes. Actually believe he had a chance? No."

"Then you don't know me very well," Ranma said, puffing out his chest in pride at having proven Cologne wrong.

"It was a lucky hit!" Reiko called out defensively. "He didn't outfight me. Our choices of moves, by freak chance, simply happened to mesh in a way that worked out perfectly for him."

"That's true, of course," Cologne agreed. "And he was only in a position to take advantage of that because you didn't take him seriously until after he'd already made you pay for your carelessness. In addition, despite what son-in-law might say about my memory, it remains as sharp as ever. As such, I know he's stronger than he was when he left. You weren't exactly freed yesterday, were you?"

As much as he wanted nothing to do with any crazy marriage laws, it almost felt right having Cologne back to calling him son-in-law. Small comfort that was, though, considering she'd proven herself to be as sharp and dangerous as ever tonight.

"I came to in India," he admitted. "It took me almost three months to get back, and I got in a bit of training on the way."

"Even so, if you were to fight again, with my great-great-granddaughter actually taking you serious, a second victory would be nothing short of miraculous," Cologne claimed, and as much as he didn't want to believe it, he had to admit he was drawing a blank on just how he would manage to defeat her. "Which is exactly why I think you will go along with your marriage this time."

"Plus it would be a huge favor to me," Shampoo added, looking at him pleadingly. "Can't you just do it for my sake?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Ranma fired back at Cologne, while ignoring Shampoo completely. He might have a _slight _disadvantage against her at the moment, but that just meant he should be busy training to defeat her, not wasting time going on dates with the girl or nonsense like that.

"It's just that Ryoga is so much stronger even than Reiko," Cologne answered. "He's even faster than her, far stronger and more skilled than ever, and wouldn't be so much as phased by attacks that would level him back in your time. Even a miracle wouldn't be enough to defeat him. I just find it hard to believe you would let things stand with you being so much weaker than he is."

"I don't appreciate you trying to turn Ranma against my husband," Akane cut in crossly.

"Not just Ryoga then," Cologne amended. "All your old rivals have left you far behind. You're the weakest one left from those days."

Ranma's hands had clenched into fists at her words. They may very well be true, but the thought galled him to no end, as he was sure it was intended to. Still, he didn't yet see Cologne's angle to this.

"Then I'll train every day until I'm the strongest again," Ranma replied. "It's as simple as that."

"That's quite a commitment you're making," Cologne told him. "After all you've been gone more than two decades. Even if you worked as hard as you could, you'd be very fortunate to reach Ryoga's level in ten years."

Akane huffed a little at Cologne's return to focusing solely on Ryoga, but didn't complain further.

"As if it would take me that long," Ranma countered. Really, what was she trying to pull saying it would take him a whole decade of training if he put his whole mind to it?

"Don't be too conceited," Cologne cautioned him. "As talented as you are, Ryoga was far from average himself. In addition, he and Ryu have been rivals most that interval, pushing each other to improve much as you used to do with Ryoga. That ten years already factored in your drive, your talent, and the assumption you'd have fewer distractions. Even then, I consider ten years a low estimate."

"If it takes ten years, then it takes ten years," Ranma declared stubbornly. "That's not going to discourage me."

"It will take more than that," Cologne continued. "Do you really think Ryoga wouldn't improve at all while you're trying to catch up? Even if you reach his current level in ten years, he'll still be much stronger than you."

"I'm getting tired of this, can you just get to the point already," Ranma snapped.

"The point is that Ryoga has been almost entirely self taught," Cologne answered. "He's also had to work for a living. Now you just saw, first hand, the benefits of my training. Simply agree that if I can convince Reiko to support the marriage that you'll do same and I will give you full access to all the training Joketsuzoku has to offer. I'll even support your training financially. You'd never have to work to earn a living and could devote your full time to martial arts."

Ranma had to admit that he wanted what she was offering, but the cost, as always, was too high.

"With you and Reiko training together, and pushing each other, there's no telling what heights you might reach," Cologne continued. "I'd stake my reputation that within five years I'd have you even stronger than Ryoga."

Five years did sound far better than what she was claiming it would take on his own. Still, even if she did make some good arguments, Ranma wasn't quite willing to accept it would truly take him that long. Maybe he could still come out ahead another way.

"How about we make a challenge instead?" Ranma proposed. "You seem to think it will take me a long time to be able to beat Ryoga, so give me all that training for only one year. When the time's up, I'll challenge him to fight. If I lose, then I'll do whatever you want. But if I win then I got all that training as a freebie."

"An amusing offer," Cologne said. "However, it's one I'll have to decline. I couldn't put it past Ryoga to throw the fight simply to help you out. Besides, this time I hold all the cards. You may resist at first, but I think you'll come around to my offer in the end."

"Even if he does, it still doesn't mean anything," Reiko exclaimed. "Stupid kiss or no we are not married, and that's not going to change."

Ranma's mind was taken off the conversation when he felt a killing intent spring up behind him. Quickly turning around, Ranma recognized the man who, even obscured by a blazing battle aura, could only be Reiko's father, Kumon Ryu.

"Your family has been a blight against my existence right from the start," he said in barely contained fury. "Don't think for a second I'm going to let you waltz back into Nerima and steal my baby girl away from me."

"Dad!" Reiko protested. "I'm glad you're on my side and all, but you're only making this even more embarrassing."

Meanwhile, Shampoo ignored his rage, and ran up to the man, latching on to him in a fierce huge. "Welcome back, Airen," she told him warmly. "I know you're not quite ready to let Reiko grow up, but this is Ranma. He'll take good care of her."

"Off the top of my head I can think of only four people I would be more opposed to marrying her than Ranma," Ryu insisted. "I don't care what you think, or what your laws say, I refuse to even consider it."

Shampoo released him immediately at his words, all warmth vanishing from the woman as a chill seemed to descend upon the room.

"Akane, why don't you take Ranma and Ranko home," she suggested. "It seems my husband and I have a few things to discuss."

Ranma was actually curious as to how this would turn out, but decided it might be best to get out while he had the chance. So he didn't resist when Akane began to usher him around the angry couple and out the door. As soon as they were outside, the door was slid shut behind them. They hadn't gotten far from the restaurant when the shouting started in earnest. Ranma could only make out a few words here and there between the distance and the muffling from the building, but it did not sound pretty.

Perhaps due to his efforts, he didn't notice a new figure creeping up on them until the man's jump caused him to land right in front of Ranma. Just as Ranma realized the white-robed man was Mousse, he clasped Ranko's hand firmly between both of his and began shaking it furiously.

"That was perfect," he said joyfully. "Who'd have thought I'd be so glad to see you again, but I couldn't ask for a better entrance. I've never seen Shampoo and that villain going at it like that before."

"Were you spying on us?" Ranko asked angrily as she pulled her hand away.

"Huh?" Mousse said in confusion, realizing from the voice that something was wrong. Pulling down his glasses he quickly realized his mistake, turning to Ranma, grabbing his hand, and repeating the greeting he'd just given Ranko.

"Just keep hanging around Reiko and you may actually drive them apart completely," Mousse declared. "Then she'll finally be free to marry me!"

"You're still after Shampoo after all this time?" Ranma asked in disbelief.

"Of course," he answered without hesitation. "My love for her is eternal."

"Mousse, you know what Ryu said he'd do to you if he caught you around here again," Akane warned him. "I suggest you leave while he's still distracted."

"Not just yet," Mousse replied. "I need to stay and see how this fight plays out."

"I'm beginning to think he likes being hospitalized," Ranko told him.

"Ranko, why don't you go on ahead with Ranma," Akane told her. "I'm going to try to get Mousse out of here while he's still in one piece."

"Hey, I'd kind of like to stay and see what Ryu does to him," Ranma responded, getting a little annoyed at being told to leave the second time in just a few minutes.

"If you stick around Ryu might do the same thing to you," Akane warned. "So get going."

"Come on," Ranko told him, grabbing his hand and trying to drag him off. "I've been wanting for a chance to talk to you alone anyway."

Sighing Ranma let himself get dragged off. It seemed to be all that was happening since he'd arrived. Just getting pulled along from one place to the next while he was still half in shock. Maybe that was a good thing though. The excitement distracted him from having to think too much about everything. The walk to the Nekohanten was bad enough, and he wasn't sure he could keep it together if he was given a chance to think over just how ruined his life was.

"So what really happened?" Ranko asked him as they walked along.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, not sure what she was getting at.

"I mean this crazy story about you being trapped in a magical gem," Ranko clarified. "What really happened? Did they clone you? Or maybe you used some martial arts technique to keep your body young all this time. Something like how Cologne has lived so long."

"You won't believe in magic, but you're willing to believe some scientist was able to make a copy of me?" Ranma inquired curiously.

"There's been a lot of advances in cloning technology lately," Ranko argued. "It's not really that far out there."

"Well, I'm not a scientist, but I don't think cloning copies memories, and if I'd been alive all this time, I'd be so good I'd have wiped the floor with your friend back there with both hands tied behind my back," Ranma insisted, then watched her face scrunch up in thought as she considered his argument.

"Oh, I know!" she exclaimed excitedly after a few seconds of thinking it over. "It's some kind of stasis technique like Happosai used when Grandpa and Mr. Saotome sealed him in a cave."

"Is Happosai still around?" Ranma asked upon hearing the name. He was a horribly unpleasant person to be around, but the old freak certainly was skilled. If he played his cards right, Ranma might be able to get some training without promising to marry anyone.

"If he is, he hasn't been around in some time," Ranko answered. "My dad and some of the other martial artists in the area have gotten pretty good at teaching him not to show his face in Nerima. He hasn't dared in years after the last beating."

"Anyway, why are you so determined not to believe all of this could be caused by magic?" Ranma asked, jumping back to their original topic.

"Because it's not real," she answered stubbornly. "The better question is why everyone wants to pretend it is. Is there some reason no one wants to admit what really happened?"

"It's not real?" Ranma parroted, not understanding at all how this girl of all people could think that. "You don't even believe in curses?"

"Ah, my parents were telling you stories while I was out in the dojo, weren't they?" she asked in annoyance. "Well that was a long time ago, and I'm not a kid anymore. So stop teasing me about it."

Ranma didn't want to get his hopes up after so many disappointments, but the direction this conversation was going now had his full attention.

"Ah, they didn't have time to go into much details," Ranma claimed, as he played along. "If you don't mind, could you clear up what exactly happened back then?"

"Fine," she said reluctantly. "I suppose it's better than you just knowing the bits of it they already told you. Back when I was little we had a pet pig. My parents had me convinced that my dad had some crazy curse and the pig was actually him. Even used some martial arts faster than the eye can follow trick or something to make me think I saw him transforming."

"But I take it they stopped?" Ranma asked, barely able to keep the eagerness out of his voice now.

"One day, my dad just announced that he'd been cured," Ranko informed him. "I didn't realize until I was older that it was just a clever way to keep from admitting that P-chan had died."

So Ryoga had found a cure! Ranma just hoped it was something he could use as well. He needed some good news of that magnitude to help take his mind off everything else right now. He was now quite eager to get back to the Tendo's place, which brought up his next question.

"So, are we going anywhere in particular?" he asked, causing Ranko to open her eyes widely and look around.

"Where are we?" she asked, soundly like she was nearly in a panic.

"Get your father's sense of direction?" Ranma queried.

"No!" she fired back instantly. "I mean I do tend to get turned around a little more easily than some, but if I pay attention to where I'm going, I'm usually fine. If you hadn't distracted me, I'd have gotten us home without a problem!"

"Hey, don't blame me," Ranma said in a huff. "You're the one who wanted to talk, and I was following you."

"You're right, I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm just a little sensitive about this. Anyway, I just need to stay calm. I have my phone with me, so I can use it to find my way back."

Ranma was curious how her phone would help with that, unless she just meant she was going to call someone. Still, he was too focused on the potential cure to worry about that now.

"No need," he told her. "Just follow me. I can get us back from here."

With that he hopped onto a nearby roof, wanting to take the shortest path. Ranko quickly leaped up behind him and started to follow as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

"You know, I'm not really supposed to do this," Ranko informed him. "We're trespassing on private property, and we might even knock loose some of the tiles on the roof."

"We used to damage a lot more than the tiles when our fights got out of hand," Ranma said fondly, already missing those days even if it only felt like a few months to him. Ranko just shot him a glare at his words.

"Don't worry," he told her, we're here anyway.

So saying he jumped down from the building, landing on the other side of the wall to the Tendo complex, with Ranko touching down next to him. He saw Akane standing at the main entrance about to go inside as she turned to face them.

"How are you two only showing up now?" Akane asked as they ran up to her.

"We were just wandering around the area a bit, chatting," Ranma informed her.

"Ah, well, thanks for getting her back home," Akane said with a knowing smile as she led them inside.

Entering the main room, Ranma saw Ryoga was there in addition to three more familiar faces, those belonging to Kasumi, Dr. Tofu, and Mr. Tendo. Kasumi didn't have the benefit of the somewhat more graceful aging that was a side of effect of ki mastery. As such, despite the age gap, it was hard to tell whether she or Dr Tofu were older anymore, both just beginning to get touches of gray in their hair. As for Mr Tendo, their were no mere touches of gray, as his long black hair and mustache had completely faded to a more silvery tone. He also looked a little tipsy.

"Welcome back, Ranma," Kasumi said cheerfully as soon as they'd walked in. If he couldn't see on her face how glad she was that he was here, it might not have seemed any different than when she'd greeted him whenever he got back from school.

"How did you find out about this so quickly, Kasumi?" Akane asked curiously.

"Don't you remember? We were going to have dinner together tonight," Kasumi answered.

"Ah, I did forget," Akane admitted. "I'm sorry, but with Ranma showing up out the blue it was the furthest thing from my mind."

Ranma's danger senses chose that moment to alert him of an attack coming from behind him. Even as he was preparing his defense, his mind was already at work piecing together evidence. Mr. Tendo was just arriving home from being out drinking. Meanwhile, the shadow on the floor proved it was a rather large form that was trying to get the drop on him. It added up to only one thing.

"Now isn't the time, Old Man," he cried out as he ducked down, grabbed the foot aimed at the back of his head, and converted his attacker's moment into a throw that landed him on his stomach.

"Just making sure you haven't gone soft," Genma declared as he got back on his feet.

"You're one to talk," Ranma fired back. "That attack was pathetic."

And it had been too. Far less than his father should have been capable of, but one look at him showed just why that might be. He'd really let himself go. Genma Saotome had never been a thin man, but he'd put on enough weight that with the right coat of paint, you might mistake him for his panda form from a distance.

"Show some respect," his pops countered. "If I'm a little out of shape it's because you haven't been around for me to train."

"Anyway," Kasumi cut in diplomatically, "I haven't called Nabiki yet because I'm afraid she isn't awake yet, but I'll let her know as soon as it's safe. As for Ukyo, she's not answering her phone. I do hope she hasn't changed her number. I never really thought about until now, but we really haven't kept in touch with her, have we?"

"Wait, a minute, still asleep?" Ranma queried. "I know she liked to sleep in late, but it's already evening."

"She's living in America," Akane informed him. "Long story short, she moved out there, married a wealthy businessmen, divorced him a week later, took half his money, and used it to start her own business that she's still running today."

That did sound like Nabiki. Anyway, Ranma was focusing on his old man, as he had that look that said he was up to something as he sidled up to Mr. Tendo.

"Tendo, I had an interesting thought regarding our old pact," he told the other man.

"Yes," the other man replied thoughtfully, "they are the right age for it aren't they?"

Ranma was already letting out a growl that they'd start with that so soon, but Akane was doing more than that, as she marched over to her father angrily.

"No!" she said angrily. "You will not be arranging any marriages for Ranko!"

"Yeah!" Ranko added having arrived at her mother's side to aid in the effort of intimidating the eldest Tendo. "How could you even think such a thing, Grandpa?"

"But what about joining the schools?" he wailed.

"Absolutely not!" Akane snapped back. "You're going to drop this matter completely, right now!"

Mr. Tendo looked back and forth between the angry pair in front of him, also looking around to where Ryoga was sending him nasty looks, but otherwise leaving it to Akane and Ranko to handle. Ranma did his best to add his own glare when the man looked his way.

"Fine, I'll leave the matter in your hands," he said caving in on himself and beginning to weep openly.

Ranma's own father simply gave a loud harrumph, not as easily cowed as his partner in crime. But for once he had the sense to otherwise keep quiet.

"Well, I'm going to go start dinner," Kasumi announced, heading for the kitchen. Akane, however, cut her off.

"Nonsense, you're the guest here," Akane told her. "I'll handle dinner."

Ranma's stomach was already churning at the thought, but he quickly found himself with an ally in this regards.

"Mom, maybe you and Auntie Kasumi should make it together," she suggested. "You could enjoy some time alone with your sister."

"That actually sounds quite nice if you want to do it, Kasumi," Akane agreed.

"I'd love to. We can cook up a celebration feast together for Ranma," Kasumi replied happily as the two of them entered the kitchen to begin their work.

"Is her cooking still that bad?" Ranma whispered to Ranko when they were gone.

"Hey, she's improved a great deal since you last had her cooking," Ryoga butted in, having overheard his question.

"Don't believe him, he has to say that," Ranko whispered. "She really does try, but she makes the blandest food you've ever tasted."

Bland? That was all? That was a huge sense of relief as Ranma could deal with bland food, no problem. "Actually, I agree with Ryoga, it does sound like she's gotten a lot better."

Ranko scowled at him, and opened her mouth to say something before shutting it in confusion. Probably trying to figure out if that had been meant as an insult or a compliment.

"Well, I have something I wanted to ask Akane, but I'll be right back," he told them, hurrying off to the kitchen himself."

"Ranma, if you're that worried about my cooking, don't be," Akane told him dryly. "I can at least help out Kasumi without getting in her way."

"Actually I came to ask you about my curse," Ranma corrected her. "Something Ranko said made it sound like Ryoga had been cured."

And he wanted to discuss this away from her, because as disbelieving as she was of magic, he didn't want to waste time having to prove his curse to her.

"Yes, he is," Akane admitted. "It turns out the curses weaken slowly over time. Cologne actually has a way to remove them completely once it's had about ten years to fade. And before you ask, I stopped back in with Cologne quickly after dealing with Mousse to ask about your cure. I'd been hoping we could offer it to you as a surprise present. Unfortunately, she said she could tell that it had hardly weakened at all. The magic that kept you trapped must have kept the Jusenkyo curse from fading."

"So I'm the only one left who still has his curse?" Ranma asked morosely, having his hopes dashed.

"Well, Mousse still has his," Akane told him. "Cologne has refused to cure him. Also, I haven't seen him in a long time, but I assume Taro hasn't been willing to give up his yet. Although both their curses have weakened to the point they won't get splashed with water any more than an ordinary person."

"I guess it was too much to hope for, what with my track record with cures and all," Ranma grumbled. "Although speaking of that, how can Ranko be so determined not to believe in curses or magic or anything like that?"

"You have to understand where she's coming from," Akane told him. "We get our share of crazy martial artists, nothing like as often as when you were around, but they're still hardly rare. Even so, Ranko hasn't had to deal with honest to goodness magic. She hasn't lived the kind of life we had, so it's not surprising she'd take the same view most people in Japan have."

"It shouldn't have been too hard to convince her though," Ranma mused. "I'm sure Cologne could have come up with something."

"There wasn't any reason to do so," Akane replied. "We just let her have as normal a life as possible, considering. Now why don't you get back out there and let me get back to cooking. Your father is here, and I don't suppose your appetite has lessened either, so we really do have a lot of work to do."

Leaving the kitchen, he found Dr. Tofu conversing with Ryoga and Ranko while Pops and Mr Tendo had set up a game of shogi. It ticked him off more than a little that his father was sitting there with his back to Ranma paying him so little attention when he'd been gone for so long. That did bring up another thought, however.

"Hey Pops," Ranma began. "Is Mom coming to this?"

"She's dead boy," Genma said flatly not looking up from his game.

While Ranma was still frozen in place trying to decide if he'd heard that correctly, he felt a breeze as Akane sped past him carrying a pan, only to slam it down on his father's head hard enough to badly dent the tool.

"Don't you have the slightest bit of empathy anywhere in your body?" she yelled angrily. "How could you just say it like that?"

"Hey now," he complained. "You know I grieved for her more than anyone. But it's been five years already. You have to move on."

"That may be true for us, Saotome, but not for Ranma," Mr. Tendo pointed out.

"True, Tendo, I hadn't thought of that," he agreed, nodding sagely as he spun around to face Ranma "Let me start again. Ranma, there's there's something important I have to discuss with you."

Unable to contain himself, he rushed forward and kicked the old man in the forehead, knocking him backward and sending shogi pieces flying everywhere.

"It's too late for that, you moron!" he yelled at the fallen man, then stood there for several seconds taking deep breaths while everyone looked on silently.

"It was pneumonia," Genma informed him after he'd picked himself back up. "The doctors said she was young enough and otherwise healthy enough that she should have pulled through, but it was as if she'd given up the will to live."

The room again fell to silence, and looking around, Ranma could see near universal looks of pity directed his way. Their sympathy did nothing to help him through this new tragedy, and in fact only made him feel more boxed in. Unable to cope with it anymore, Ranma dashed toward the exit, escaping from the eyes he knew were still following him. He almost crashed into Shampoo as he left, but dodged at the last second.

"Ranma," she called out in concern on seeing him, but Ranma ignored her, hardly even taking note that Cologne and Reiko were with her before he jumped up on the roof to get away from everyone. Going to very top of the roof he sat there, trying vainly to forget everything that had happened today. He'd hardly sat down when Reiko hopped up after him.

"My mother made me come up here, but I'll do my best not to bother you," she told him, taking a seat a short distance away.

Ranma was not pleased to have the company, but maybe this was likely the best he was going to get. If he tried to run off, he'd likely end up with a full pursuit force after him. So he did his best to ignore her as he lost himself in thought. Today had easily been the worst day of his life. Worse even than the day he got cursed. His entire life had come crashing down, just like that.

Well actually it had happened three months ago, or twenty-one years, depending on how you looked at it. He just hadn't realized it until today. Akane had married Ryoga, everyone had moved on without him, and his mother was long dead. As depressing as that final news had been, he was actually a bit guilty it hadn't hit him harder than it had. It's just that he'd never really gotten a chance to know her all that well.

Even counting his time disguised as Tendo Ranko, he'd spent more time with Daisuke and Hiroshi than he'd spent with his mother since meeting her again, and those two could hardly be considered the closest of friends. He hadn't really had a chance to bond with her as well as he'd have like, but she was still his mother, and now he'd never have the chance. Time dragged by in silence as Ranma considered all the other things he'd missed out on thanks to that stupid piece of junk.

"If you want to take your mind off everything, I'm itching for a rematch," Reiko declared, apparently able to hold her silence no longer, even if she had lasted an impressive length of time.

Ranma inwardly balked at that suggestion. With everything going on, he hadn't even had a chance to plan for their next fight, and he definitely wanted to get in some training for it before they fought again.

"Don't wanna," he said simply, spinning where he sat to turn his back toward her.

"Come on," she pleaded. "It has to be better than sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. Unless you're just afraid you'll lose."

She probably was right about needing something else to occupy him, but if he fought now, he'd probably lose, and Ranma Saotome didn't lose. He just needed a way to put this off without it seeming like cowardice. His stomach chose that moment to growl, which gave him the perfect idea.

"Actually, I have a different sort of competition in mind, if you're up for it," he said slyly. "Have you ever heard of an Anything Goes battle over food?"

"You mean like when you and Genma used to try to steal food from each while you ate?" Reiko asked.

"That's it," Ranma confirmed. "What do you say me and you have a match over dinner? Unless you're afraid you'll lose."

"As if," Reiko said, jumping to her feet. "I'm going to go all out right from the start this time, so you don't stand a chance."

"At least you'll be able to eat your words, because there certainly won't be any food making it to your mouth tonight," Ranma boasted, hopping down off the roof. When he reentered the house, the conversation immediately stopped as all eyes turned to him.

"Are you okay, Ranma," Akane asked him, from where she was carrying some food to the table.

"No, but I'll live," he told her. "Looks like I had good timing too, that smells great."

Sitting down at the table, Reiko took the spot to his right in preparation for their match, while Genma slipped into the seat at his left. Once all the food was brought out, the fight began in flash, going just as he'd anticipated it would. Reiko may have him beat in speed, but using chopsticks and fighting over food was basically a whole separate martial art of its own. One Ranma had been perfecting for years.

No matter how talented she was, Reiko simply wasn't able to compete by learning the art in the middle of her first match. As such, Ranma was completely dominating the competition, which was doubly rewarding because of how good the food was. Akane really had reached the level where she was able to avoid ruining Kasumi's cooking.

Meanwhile, Ranma was using a second set of chopsticks in his left hand to fight another front with his father. This fight should have been more challenging, but his old man's skills had deteriorated quite a bit here as well. Even focusing most of his attention on Reiko, he was still coming out ahead with his father as well.

Part way through the meal, he even began using a variation of the Parlay du Foie Gras to move food from Genma's plate over to Reiko's to extend that match a bit. Between reveling in such an easy victory over her, and getting to see the growing look of frustration on her face, he just didn't want to let the match end too quickly. But eventually it did finish.

"I believe that's two victories and no losses for me," he told Reiko as Kasumi and Akane began to clear off the table.

"I was just starting to get the hang of it at the end," she huffed. "Don't expect it to be so easy next time."

Unfortunately, with that distraction over, it was hard to keep his spirits up. Everyone else was clearly trying to celebrate, and given it was because they were happy to see him, he did his best to play along, but he could tell he was bringing down the mood of the whole place. Before long, the Joketsuzoku contingent excused themselves, and soon after Kasumi left with Dr. Tofu. He'd kind of suspected it, but he had managed to learn the two were in fact married during the after dinner conversation.

"It's getting late," Akane noted. "Why don't the two of you stay here, at least for the night."

"Don't mind if we do," Genma answered before Ranma had a chance to say anything. "Been a pretty tiring day, I may just head up now."

"I think I'll hit the sack as well," Ranma added, not really wanting to sleep, but not having any better ideas either.

Following his father up the stairs and back to their old room, he was surprised to see a pair of futon's already laid out. Once they were both inside, his old man turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Son, it really is good to have you back," he declared warmly. The admission caught Ranma off-guard given the way he'd been treating Ranma since they'd met up again. He was trying to come up with the appropriate response when he noticed that Genma had already slipped into one of futons and was snoring away loudly. He supposed that was just how his father was.

"I'm glad you're still around too, Old Man," he replied anyway, surprised a bit by how much he truly meant that.

Taking the other futon for himself, Ranma found himself completely unable to reproduce Genma's feat of nodding right off. Not even close as he tossed and turned for what felt like hours. Eventually, weariness did overcome him as he dozed off.

Ranma wasn't sure how much sleep he actually got, but all too soon he was awoken by his old man grabbing his arm, running toward the window, and tossing him out. Reacting quickly, Ranma had grabbed Genma's shirt, latched on to the windowsill with his toes and used his momentum to toss the fat old man out the window where he landed with a loud splash as Ranma watched from where he hung upside down from his perch. Flipping back in the window, he left the room and walked down the stairs, already in a pretty sour mood this morning.

"Ah, you're up," Akane greeted him, as he came down. She'd finally changed out of her dogi and into a blue sundress, and Ranma wasn't sure which outfit she looked more uncute in.

"The Old Man didn't exactly give me much of a choice," he answered.

"That would explain the splash that came from outside," she responded. "Anyway, we weren't able to reach Ukyo last night, but Ryoga and I were thinking you might enjoy going in person to check up on her. She moved her restaurant to another part of Tokyo, but I have the address right here."

"I could go for that," Ranma agreed, taking the slip of paper Akane offered him. It sure beat staying around here dealing with his pop's pathetic attempts to spar with him. Then again, with neither Ranma nor Happosai around to motivate him, he was should be grateful the lazy bum could still do any martial arts at all.

Not wanting to waste any time, Ranma departed at once, having to send Genma into the pond one more time to escape from him before setting off across the rooftops. Once he got close to the address in question, he did have to hop down and ask for directions, as he'd never been to this particular part of Tokyo before. Of course his curse acted up almost as soon as he did. A construction crew working on the road accidentally broke a water main, drenching Ranma in the process and leaving her in girl form.

She wondered how soon that annoying part of the curse would begin to wear off. For now, though, she just had to deal with it, so she ignored her wet clothes and hurried on to her destination. Ranma soon arrived at the place, a building about twice as large as her old digs but still with the same familiar sign of 'Okonomiyaki Ucchan's.' The sign on the door indicated it was closed, but Ranma simply rapped loudly on the door frame.

"We're not open yet," he heard Ukyo call out from within. "Come back in a couple of hours."

"Can't I at least get some hot water?" Ranma called back.

Her voice combined with the odd request must have been enough for Ukyo to recognize her as she heard running just before the door was slid open hard enough that it was nearly ripped off.

"Ranchan, you're alive!" She shouted enthusiastically.

Ranma then began with the quickly becoming familiar task of examining her old friends to see how they'd aged. Ukyo had continued the masculine dress that left her looking androgynous, even taking it a step further by cutting her hair a little shorter than Akane used to have hers. Other than that, it was much like most of the rest of the people she knew, more mature looking but few changes otherwise.

"Yeah, now about that hot water?" Ranma asked, preferring to be back in her natural form.

"Of course. Come right in," Ukyo told him, moving away and letting him inside. "Did you just get back today?"

"I got back yesterday afternoon, actually" he informed her.

"And you're only now telling me?" Ukyo asked, clearly a bit upset by that.

"Hey, we tried calling last night," Ranma told her. "You weren't answering."

"Ah, I remember now," she said sounding a little sheepish. "A call did come in, but it was while the dinner rush was still going on. I was too busy to answer it, and then I forgot all about it. If I'd known it had been you, I wouldn't have let anything get between me and that phone."

At this point Ukyo had reached a tap and began to fill a cup with hot water, handing it over to her. Gratefully, Ranma dumped it over her head, turning back to her male form.

"So, I didn't hear much about you from the Tendos," Ranma told her. "You ever settle down, marry, have kids?"

"No," Ukyo replied, sounding a little depressed herself. "After you disappeared, I just never found the right guy."

"That actually makes you the only one of my old fiancees who's still single," Ranma noted.

"I suppose you're right," Ukyo said, perking up and letting out a small laugh. "With the competition gone, maybe I should just run away and marry you today."

Ranma unconsciously took a step back at that, as he began to sweat a bit.

"But seriously, look at you," Ukyo continued. "You're the same as you always were. You must be less than half my age now, and I've already moved on. It just wouldn't work out."

Despite himself, Ranma actually felt a little bitter about this. Even the fiancee that wasn't married was throwing him away this easily. It was an emotion he apparently didn't do a good enough job of hiding.

"You're actually disappointed aren't you?" Ukyo said as if she was having trouble believing it. "It's like the reversal jewel all over again. You never wanted us chasing you, but it drives you crazy if we stop."

"Well, I've been through a lot lately," Ranma countered, realizing himself what a weak excuse it was.

Ukyo laughed again before giving him a thoughtful look. "You know, I realized a long time ago that all you ever wanted me to be was a friend," she admitted. "If you're still willing, I'd be happy to be one for you now."

"Of course, Ucchan," Ranma quickly answered. Even if things were weird with the aging, it would be great to have his best friend back.

"Great, Ranchan," Ukyo replied happily. "Now why don't you tell me how you got yourself out of this one?"

They spent the next couple of hours chatting away. They floundered a bit early on, given that Ranma didn't exactly have a lot of new stories to tell, and Ukyo had been focusing more on her business than her martial arts. She was doing well for herself, but it just wasn't the sort of topic Ranma found interesting. When they really started to hit it off was when they simply began reminiscing about old times.

Ukyo had actually been wanting to keep her restaurant closed for the day, but Ranma talked her out of that after promising to visit again. He had been enjoying their conversation a lot, but it had been clear that Ukyo was very proud of her business, and he didn't want to hurt its reputation. They'd have plenty more chances to talk in the future. So they said their goodbyes, and he left.

Ranma started just wandering around aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do with his life. It didn't take him very long to come up with an answer, as it was about the only thing he could pick up right where he left off. His martial arts. That was a very major part of his life, and almost more importantly, it had already proven to be about the most effective way to keep his spirits up. Losing himself in the thrill of a match made him all but forget his troubles, at least until it ended.

And he even had a real goal to set himself toward. Defeating Ryoga and proving once again that he was the best there was. Of course, Cologne had made a lot of sense about it being better if he could find someone to train him. That didn't mean she was the only person who would qualify. He was still hoping to locate someone who wouldn't require marriage as a payment.

In addition, Ranma was becoming more and more certain that he just needed to get away for a while. Oh he could handle being around Shampoo, Cologne, his old man, and most of the others. There was one person in particular he felt he had to get away from, though. Akane. He'd realized at Jusendo just how much she meant to him, and he was having that hammered home once again now. It drove him crazy that she had married someone else, and the feeling was only getting worse as the initial shock was wearing off.

He was sure he'd completely lose it if he was constantly having her shoved in his face as a reminder. And since hanging out with anyone else in Nerima was almost certain to bring her around as a package deal, it looked like he had little choice but a clean cut. Temporarily of course. He expected he'd adjust eventually, whether that took weeks, months, or even years. Until such a time, he needed to get away.

Still, all of them deserved better than to have him just disappear on them without a word. Maybe he should go back and leave a message with Ukyo. Then again, she might try to talk him out of it. His best bet might be to just leave a note. Actually, it was just possible that he had an angle to play that would work out even better. Ducking into a convenience store, he walked up to a counter, pleased to see they did, indeed, have a pen lying on the counter.

Snatching it up, he took the slip of paper with Ukyo's address and wrote out his note explaining that was going on a training trip but would try to keep in touch, finishing up in a flash and setting it back on the counter too quickly for the guy manning it to even notice he had taken it. Now, it was clear his old man wasn't officially living at the Tendo place anymore, so he just needed to hope he hadn't moved from the newly rebuilt, by his memory at least, Saotome home.

Luck was with him for once, as he arrived to find Genma both living there, and present. Now to put his plan in motion. As long as his father still had his soft head to go with his newly soft body, he was set.

"There you are, Boy, I was looking for you," Genma announced

"I was looking for you too," Ranma replied. "I've been giving it a lot of thought, and after missing out on Akane, I don't want to make the same mistake with Ranko."

"That's great news!" Genma answered, beaming briefly before his face fell. "But the girl's parents could prove a problem."

"Yes, but if Ranko and I both agree to it, there's no way they could object," Ranma said with a smile, knowing he had the old fool hook, line, and sinker. "That's why I've got a plan to win her over. A nice dinner, some presents, you know, all that romance stuff that chicks like. I just need a little cash to pull it off."

"Hmm, that you would," Genma said thoughtfully. "A good plan though, and you were right to come to me. I have a little something stored away for emergencies that should be perfect. Wait right there."

Ranma was practically rubbing his hands together in anticipation as his father sped into the house and soon came back out with a small envelope, passing it off to Ranma. He was pleased to see that there was 100,000 yen inside. More than he expected his old man to be able to avoid blowing on sake. Getting by with just the clothes on your back was actually much harder in the city than it was in the wilderness. This amount wasn't exactly going to set him up for the long haul, but it was far better than the nothing he had before.

"This should cover everything you need," Genma told him. "Just make certain you don't blow it."

"There's actually a couple more things you could do to help out in that regard," Ranma said, slipping the note to his father. "I've written the details down there, but I really need to get going if I want to finish all the preparations in time."

Ranma then ran off leaving his father staring at the piece of paper. For once, his poor handwriting would work to his advantage. By the time his old man was able to decipher what he'd written, Ranma would be long gone. Once he considered himself at a safe distance, Ranma began to plan out his next step. He figured he could use an old trick his father often employed when looking for people to train Ranma.

You just find the nearest dojo and ask around for the strongest dojo in the area they knew of. Continue on until you actually find someone good enough to train you. Sometimes they got a little prideful and didn't want to admit they weren't the best, but a good dojo challenge would generally get them talking assuming they actually wanted their sign back.

The first dojo Ranma found was pretty much exactly what he expected. One run for hobbyists by a hobbyist. The guy even gave up another name without the slightest hesitation. Getting off to such a weak start, Ranma was surprised by the success he found at only his second stop. The guy named some place called Ryozanpaku without even needing to think about it. He said they were the strongest dojo he'd find anywhere, not just in region.

Only thing was, when it became clear that he was asking because he wanted to join that place, the guy begged him to reconsider. He claimed the dojo was full of monsters and that no sane person would actually go there. This wasn't the sort of reaction you generally got until at least four or five dojos deep in the process. Nevertheless, it sounded like just the sort of place he wanted. It was time to pay this Ryozanpaku a visit.

* * *

Miu was standing out in the yard, fretting about school starting up next week. She always had trouble fitting in with people her own age and she didn't know if she'd actually be able to make any friends. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a voice calling out to her.

"Excuse me, is this the Ryozanpaku Dojo?" asked the voice Miu found belonged to a boy about her own age dressed in a red Chinese shirt and blue pants.

"Yes, are you here to challenge the dojo?" she asked. They usually didn't get challengers as young as him, but he had made it through the gates, so he must be a martial artist of some sorts.

"Actually, I'm looking to take my training to the next level and wanted to see if this might be the place to do it," he answered.

"Did I hear you say were considering joining the dojo?" Kensei asked, the short man having snuck up on them at some point. "We'd be happy to discuss that further. Just follow me inside."

"Great," the boy said cheerfully, walking after him.

Miu followed along too, a mixture of excitement and nervousness running through her. It would be nice to have someone her own age spending time around the dojo, but Ranma wasn't the first person to ask about joining and their track record was 100% when it came to scaring them off before they even joined. Everyone always had trouble dealing with the … unusual residents of Ryozanpaku.

He picked a bad time to come as well, as all of them were home today. Maybe there was still a chance, though. Considering he was male, Kensei was one of the safer masters for him to deal with. If a couple key members were otherwise occupied, they might just make this work. That hope was quickly dashed when she saw the number one offender, Apachai, peaking his head around the door frame from inside.

For his part, the boy didn't even seem to blink as he followed Kensei through the door. When Miu entered behind them, she saw that Apachai wasn't the only master waiting. Akisame was sitting in the center of the room sipping tea, Sakaki was leaning against a wall, gulping down a beer, and Shigure was hanging upside down from a beam. Despite the casual atmosphere they were all trying to generate, Miu had just been in the room not two minutes ago and knew that it had been deserted at that time.

"Just so you know, I don't take disciples," Sakaki announced from where he sat, while Miu wished he would stay away from these things if he really didn't want to have a part in them.

"Just ignore Sakaki," Kensei told the boy. "But before we get any further, might I inquire as to your name?"

"Saotome Ranma," he answered.

"Hmm," Akisame said in reply to that. "I knew of a Saotome Ranma once. He was a martial artist who lived in the Nerima district. A certain Tendo Ryoga spoke very highly of his skill."

"Oh, now that's a name I'm sure I've heard from time to time," Sakaki interjected. "Is he any good?"

"It is an interesting story," Akisame began. "I was actually looking for the Saotome Ranma I mentioned before when I found him. In my youth it was a name I heard quite a few times. As a fellow martial artists with some small skill and us being of the same age, I always expected we'd run into each other sooner or later. However, as the years passed by, and the stories began to dry up, I eventually sought him out myself."

Miu was becoming interested in the tale, but worried they might be boring their guest. However, a quick glance showed this Ranma was fully engaged in the story as well. Perhaps he was related or was simply interested in the person who shared his name.

"Unfortunately, my journey led me to discover that Ranma had vanished a decade prior," Akisame continued. "It did, however, bring about my first encounter with Tendo Ryoga. It may not have been the match I wanted, but I did get a fight."

"What happened next? Was he strong?" Apachai asked excitedly.

"He's very strong," Ranma answered. "I'm here because I want to train to surpass him."

"Fascinating," Akisame replied. "That's a rather difficult goal you've set for yourself. I can attest to his strength myself. Our first match, I lost soundly. His strength was so monstrous he could break free from holds he never should have had to leverage to do so. He also possessed a number of rather strange techniques."

Miu was impressed. There weren't many masters who could not only beat Akisame, but do it as soundly as he claimed he had.

"Heh, you should tell stories of your losses more often Akisame," Sakaki mocked, as he opened another beer. "Most entertaining thing I've heard from you in long time."

"Yes, well, I learned from my defeat," Akisame replied, trying unsuccessfully to hide his annoyance. It was the motivation for my developing my own special muscle training regime. Regardless, I challenged him to a rematch very shortly thereafter. I was better prepared for him this time, and had learned that he is somewhat susceptible to misdirection."

"I'll say," Ranma snorted from next to her.

"I won that match easily and the one after that as well," Akisame told them. "However, we've fought four matches, and I'm afraid the fourth victory was his. He'd been training specifically to deal with my own techniques, and proved to be much more difficult because of it. It was our longest and closest match, but in the end, he outlasted me. I'd always meant to break the tie in one last battle, but things came up and I never quite got around to it."

"It sounds as if the training you'd need if you hope to ever match him would be quite intense," Kensei told him. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"I'll take whatever training you can give me and ask for more," Ranma insisted.

"I warn you, our training can be grueling, agonizing, and even quite dangerous," Akisame added putting is acting skills to good use as he dramatized it, although Miu wished he weren't putting so much effort into talking Ranma out of signing up.

"I've risked my life for training before, and I'll do so again without a second thought," Ranma responded, completely devoid of any hesitation.

"Hah, well said!" Sakaki barked out. "I still don't take disciples, but I'm starting to like you, kid."

"You know, it is odd that you care so much about defeating Ryoga," Akisame noted. "Might you be the same Saotome Ranma who used to be his rival?"

"What are you talking about?" Miu cut in before Ranma could answer. "Wouldn't that Ranma be around your age?"

"Ah, but he disappeared when he was about as old as you," Akisame countered. "So if whatever caused him to disappear, brought him back now, than everything fits together quite nicely."

"It is possible," Sakaki agreed.

"Yes, I've seen stranger," Kensei chimed in.

Miu was sure they must all be picking on her, but more importantly, she could tell Ranma was getting uncomfortable. Just when it looked like he could put up with the weirdness around here, they decided to take it to a new level. Now he was looking like he might be the next in a long line of runners.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation why he cares about beating Ryoga," Miu said quickly, hoping to keep things from falling apart. "Maybe he's a relative who just wants to live up to his namesake."

"My explanation was hardly unreasonable," Akisame replied, sounding offended. "But I suppose there are other possibilities. Come to think of it, Ryoga had a daughter that would be about your age. You aren't trying to steal her away from him, are you?"

"Hey, that marriage pact was written before I was born!" Ranma shouted out in a panic. "I want nothing to do with it!"

"Ah, trying to get out of a marriage instead of into it?" Kensei said, sidling up to Ranma and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I understand completely. You're much to young to be tied down. You need to be free to sample all the fruits on offer."

Miu was annoyed by Kensei's behavior, but was thinking more about Ranma. What would it be like to have your marriage decided before you were even born? Miu was glad she didn't have to deal with that.

"Can we please get back to business?" Ranma pleaded. "Can you train me or not?"

"I think we should try to get an idea of your current skill first," Akisame suggested. "Are you opposed to a little sparring match with one of us."

"Fine with me," Ranma replied.

"Ooh, ooh, pick Apachai!" Apachai cried out eagerly. "Apachai wants to spar!"

"Fine with me," Ranma declared. "Mind if we take this outside? We'll have a little more room to fight."

Apachai leaped outside in a single bound at the suggestion.

"He certainly is eager," Kensei noted. "I haven't seen him this excited since the last time we had hamburgers."

Ranma followed Apachai out, with everyone else filing out behind him.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Ranma asked the much taller fighter.

"Apachai is going to kick you," Apachai answered.

Proving the veracity of his words, his foot lashed out in a blur that caused Miu to involuntarily let out a screech of fear as Ranma was sent hurtling away from him.

"You idiot! Haven't you ever heard of holding back?" Sakaki berated him.

"Holding back?" Apachai said back to him in confusion, proving he had not.

Meanwhile, Miu was relieved to see that somehow Ranma had managed to get his arms up in time to block the kick. He then twisted his body so he impacted the wall feet first, springing off it and landing in the grass.

"Are you alright?" Miu called out to him in worry.

"If he hadn't told me he was going to kick me, I don't think I would have been able to defend in time," he answered, as he walked back to the group. "Even so, that nearly broke my arms."

"I'm terribly sorry," Miu apologized on Ryozanpaku's behalf. "We had no idea he would do that."

She was certain Apachai had just ruined any hope of convincing him to join, but maybe she could at least talk him out of a lawsuit. The dojo couldn't afford that right now. One thing was certain, if they had any other potential students come along, they were not letting Apachai do any sparring with them.

"Don't worry about it, that was amazing," Ranma said, actually looking excited. "If the rest of you are even half that strong, then sign me up right now."

"Great," Kensei said, pulling a contract and pen from somewhere. "Anyone who can survive one of Apachai's kicks is more than welcome here."

"I'm still not training him, but it will be interesting to see what he's capable of," Sakaki added.

"Apa, we get our first student!" Apachai cheered, grabbing Shigure's hands as they both jumped for joy.

"Yay!" Shigure added simply, and Miu was smiling herself at the good news.

Ranma, meanwhile, had taken the offered items and was just about to sign his name when the sheet of paper was pulled from his hand.

"Don't I get a say in this?" her grandfather said from where he stood holding the contract.

"He's obviously perfect for Ryozanpaku," Kensei argued. "Just let him sign."

"I must agree," Akisame added. "We're not likely to see another student of his caliber come along any time soon."

Miu had no idea what her grandfather was up to. Was he just upset that they hadn't consulted him?

"You're obviously not looking close enough," he argued. "It's clear that he's nowhere near good enough to be Ryozanpaku's disciple."

"I am too good enough," Ranma complained, trying unsuccessfully to swipe the contract back away from the taller man.

"Give the kid a chance already," Sakaki chimed in.

"No, my decision is made, and my word is final," he insisted, then punctuated his statement by grabbing Ranma's arm and hurling him over the wall and off into the distance."

"What did you do that for, grandfather?" she protested loudly. "We needed that money."

"You're not thinking this through," he added. "That's exactly why I did it."

"Huh?" Miu responded, not following at all.

"You saw how determined he was to receive training," he explained. "And yet you offer him the base rate. Not that it would have mattered, with how eager you all were to sign him up you completely destroyed our negotiating position. Now though, he's sure to come back begging to pay us whatever we want if I'll just change my mind."

"A clever strategy," Akisame agreed.

"Yes, and perhaps I did jump the gun a bit," Kensei said sheepishly.

"Now all we need do is wait," her grandfather continued. "He'll be back any minute."

But as the minutes ticked by with no motion at the gate they were all watching with anticipation, they became more and more nervous. Finally, Miu couldn't take in any more.

"And what happens if he just goes somewhere else?" she asked.

"Well in that case we simply …" her grandfather started before pausing briefly. "I actually hadn't considered that. Do you think it's too late to hunt him down?"

* * *

Ranma would show that stupid old man. Not good enough? After he dealt with Ryoga, the old man was next. He'd prove to him just how good he was. For now though, he had another option. He hadn't really wanted to leave Japan, but maybe it was time to look up Ethan and see if his master's offer was still on the table.

* * *

**Notes: ** Wow, I did not expect the first chapter to end up so long. Don't expect every chapter to be this size. Anyway, you probably noticed that the blurb didn't really describe the point of the story very well, and that's intentional. I didn't want to give anything away.

The mechanism facilitating the crossover may be a bit deus ex machina, but for a piece of fiction involving Ranma, that's pretty par for the course. Besides, I'll take deus ex machina over the all too frequent "making up of one dimensional parodies of all the Ranma characters for the author to bash so Ranma can realize how horrible his life is and leave" mechanism that starts off many crossovers.

As for the time warp seeming perhaps unnecessary, that was actually the initial idea for this story. It was inspired by a similar starting point from an author whom if I could remember the name of or even find during my search, I would love to credit. Regardless, I do plan to take it a very different direction and the crossover with Kenichi is a major part of that.

I decided to make it a crossover, because otherwise it's hard to get a good plot without adding tons of original characters closer to Ranma's age. Kenichi has a wide variety of well developed characters that will fit in nicely, and allows me to limit it to the two OCs already introduced.

That said I'd like to assure everyone that the crossover is no mere afterthought. Kenichi and the other characters from that continuity will still play a major role in the story, and be central to the plot starting in the next chapter.

Also, I'm basing the story on the manga for both continuities. I may throw in some in some anime for Ranma if I really like it, but for the most part, if it didn't happen in the manga, I don't consider it to have happened. This is especially helpful regarding the Nanban Mirror, as I don't want Ranma to have it in his head that time travel is possible and go chasing off after that.

Finally as a bonus I'll give a brief overview of the two OCs. Much if this I hope you have already gleaned from the chapter, but there's a couple new bits of information in there.

**Kumon Reiko: **17 years old. She thoroughly enjoys her martial arts and takes her studies seriously, having great pride in her abilities. Despite her father being quite skilled at martial arts as well, she's been trained mostly by her mother and great-great-grandmother.

On the personal front, however, she doesn't identify well with her Joketsuzoku roots, having never even visited the place. All her friends are Japanese, she's grown up in Japan, and she identifies culturally with Japan. Wanting to fit in, she finds most Joketsuzoku customs embarrassing.

**Tendo Ranko: **16 years old. Despite being almost a full year younger than Reiko, the two are best of friends. Fairly talented herself, if not to Reiko's degree, she also doesn't take martial arts as seriously. Much like her mother, she enjoys the art but wants to try other paths in life as well. However, with Ryoga taking her training much more seriously than Soun did for Akane, she's far beyond the level Akane was at her age.

She's partially inherited her father's directional difficulties. Although she would only be considered to have a horrible sense of direction, rather than anything freakish. Unsurprising considering her parents, she does have a rather sharp temper, but can generally be reasoned with.


	2. First Meetings

Ranma wasn't quite certain how he could find Ethan, as the other martial artist had always been the one tracking him. Ranma just hoped he hadn't lost him completely at the Sea of Japan. But then again, he had known Ranma intended to return to Japan, and having followed all the way from India, it was unlikely he'd have given up.

Ranma just needed to provide a trail for him to pick up again, and the best way he could think to do that short of tearing up Tokyo would be to keep visiting dojos. After all, there was still a chance he could find another place to train here. There was, of course, the risk that showing up so many places would let those back in Nerima find him, but he just had to hope Ethan caught up first.

As far as his own search went, he just kept running into dead ends. All roads seemed to lead to Ryozanpaku. In the twelve dojos he'd visited, that name had come up three times, and he'd yet to find a single other place worth training at. The said, his thirteenth dojo at least had some people taking their training a little seriously. Enough that as bored as he was he figured it would be worth getting a little exercise.

So he challenged the entire dojo to attack him at once. They were sure he was kidding at first, but after a few taunts they were all too eager to oblige, even surrounding him and rushing as one. Ranma dashed toward one particularly dense group, and used one hand each to take advantage of their forward momentum, simultaneously flipping both of them over his back.

Only when he was mid throw did he realize that there was someone else standing behind them, already sending a fist of his own toward his now unprotected midsection. Recognizing Ethan instantly, he began to twist his body to throw off any attempt at a pressure point. How the large martial artist had hid himself so well behind the two smaller men, he didn't know, but he was too happy to see him to care.

Whether planned from the start, or just a reaction to Ranma's own dodge, it wasn't a pressure point attack, but a fist that collided with him. Ranma continued his twist, changing the angle of the attack so it didn't hit him quiet straight on, but still hit hard enough to force a small bit of air from his lungs.

"Nice one, Ethan," he told him. "Oh, and I'm glad you're here too. I was looking for you."

"Oh, what for?" Ethan asked not letting up on his assault.

"What should we do about him?" one of the guys Ranma had been challenging asked.

"As long as he's not attacking us, just ignore him?" One of his companions answered. "If he helps us shut that brat's mouth, I'll thank him for it after."

"I changed my mind regarding your master's offer," Ranma informed Ethan, while dancing away from him and taking out a few of the men who were little more than distractions now. "So I was wondering if it was still open."

"I'll try to get in touch with him to check," Ethan offered, as he shoved aside the martial artist Ranma had just flung at him.

"Great, how long will that take?" Ranma queried, once again backpedaling away from Ethan, taking the time to slam an elbow into the gut of the guy trying to sneak up on him, following up by raising that same arm and smashing it into his chin, lifting him off the ground and sending him toppling backward.

"It shouldn't," Ethan answered, timing his next charge to coincide with two of the other martial artists trying to catch Ranma in a pincer attack from behind.

"Well then, I'll be waiting in a park just west of here," he informed Ethan, as he rolled backward and once again out of Ethan's range, kicking outward, connecting with each of the pair of nobodies' chests, and launching them several yards away. He then finished he roll by pushing off with his hands and twisting around so his back was to Ethan.

From that position, Ranma started running directly away from Ethan and toward the exit. He could hear him giving pursuit, not willing to let Ranma run off just yet, which wasn't surprising considering Ranma had yet to even engage him properly during their fight. Ranma had wanted to make sure he was still in good enough condition to converse, after all. Timing his own speed to be just right, he let Ethan gain on him. Waiting until his senses were warning him it was the last possible second to dodge the attack coming from behind, Ranma launching himself straight up and grabbed onto the top of the door frame leading to the exit.

Using his arm strength, he instantly stopped his forward momentum, while curling up into a tight ball so the attack would pass underneath. Ethan's arm shot up after him in reaction, actually grabbing on to his foot briefly before Ranma yanked it away. Ethan really was getting better at reacting quickly to Ranma's less predictable moves.

But it wasn't going to be enough, as Ranma was already pulling his body back inside the dojo until he was almost parallel to the floor. A floor that was too smooth for Ethan to come to an instant stop as his momentum continued to carry him forward. As soon as he was far enough, Ranma swung back forward, planting his feet in Ethan's back and sending him flying out the door.

"Let me know as soon as you get a reply," he called out, as Ethan landed and turned back to Ranma.

He thought at first that Ethan planned to continue his attack. He often did so up until Ranma was forced to put him down hard, regardless of if he'd lost whatever advantage his trap had given him or not. And despite the good job at the initial surprise attack, this was one of his weaker ambushes overall. Maybe he'd just been overly eager after having lost Ranma's trail for a while. Thankfully, he just shook his head and walked off.

With that taken care of, Ranma turned his attention back to the dojo. Some of those who were still conscious were pulling themselves back to their feet, and there were several who hadn't yet engaged him that were in various states of cowering against the wall and trying to sneak toward another door in the back.

"I guess I should finish up in here," Ranma announced cheerfully, loud enough to make sure they could all hear.

* * *

Reiko had mixed feelings about Ranma's recent disappearing act. She'd have fully support him running off indefinitely, if he'd only waited until after she'd gotten her rematch. Hopefully with him out of sight, her parents wouldn't have a reason to blow up over him again. And of course she wouldn't be pressed into marrying him as much. Even still, a strong part of her just wanted him back as soon as possible so she could pound that smug look off his face.

"I still can't believe he just ran off like that," her mother announced, as she worked together with Reiko and Cologne to prepare the Nekohanten to open for the day.

"It's really not too surprising," Cologne responded. "He's been through a lot and he never was the most socially well adjusted individual. A training trip is exactly the sort of way I'd expect him to deal with his problems if he got overwhelmed."

"Well, seeing as he's not here, I guess there's nothing I can do but forget about him," Reiko all but gloated, trying to get a little payback for what the other two had put her through regarding Ranma.

"I'll have you know that I tracked Ranma all the way from China," her mother reminded her. "I doubt he's even left Tokyo, so there's no reason we couldn't find him now."

"Yes, but your overly aggressive pursuit of him only hurt your chances back then," Cologne admonished her. "Let him have his space for now. We can always find him later if he dawdles too much in returning."

"Of course, great-grandmother," her mother answered, looking properly chagrined.

"Really," Reiko mused thoughtfully. "I'm beginning to think I might have to look for Ranma after all." Getting her rematch and poisoning him against her seemed win-win to her.

"I'd like to see you try," Cologne answered the smile and light tone not at all disguising the fact that Reiko was being reprimanded. "Shampoo is an excellent tracker. You barely put any effort into your lessons when you could be convinced to participate at all."

Her own sheepish look now made her a nice match for her mother. Realizing she was letting Cologne start to push her around again, she rallied herself for another act of defiance.

"You do realize you're never going to convince me to go along with this whole marriage farce, right?" Reiko asked sharply, but Cologne just laughed, not at all the reaction her baiting had been intended to elicit.

"Perhaps so," she answered with a smile, "but I should warn you, more than one of Ranma's most determined pursuers first came to Nerima seeking his life rather than his heart. In fact, Shampoo here can be counted among them."

Reiko raised her eyebrow in surprise, looking over at her mother and seeing no sign Cologne was lying to her. That was a story she'd never heard before. She could see why someone would want to kill Ranma, even if his attitude didn't personally bother her nearly enough to take such a drastic action. Still, what would cause such a dramatic shift in opinion?

"Just give him a chance and you'll see what he's like yourself," her mother suggested, as if reading her thoughts. Reiko wasn't interested in following the advice, but she had to admit she was now curious. What was it about Ranma that had attracted so many people to him?

* * *

Ranma was seriously getting frustrated. He'd spent the night in one of the park's trees in order to keep out of view. It had successfully prevented an encounter with a police force that generally didn't appreciate people sleeping in the parks, but the uncomfortable perch hadn't helped the poor mood brought on by there being no sign of Ethan.

He'd been doing what training he could to keep himself occupied. For the most part he'd been focusing on refining his Moko Takabisha. That included working on more powerful blasts, firing them off more quickly, and even straining how much chi he could fire off before he needed to rest. Still, he was eager to have someone actually directing his training, and now it wasn't too far from when he'd have to start considering staying another night. So he was thrilled to see a figure approaching him, even if it wasn't Ethan.

"Sehrul," he called out to ensure the tall man had spotted him. "What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't leave India."

"I couldn't at the time," he answered, "but that business has been taken care of. When I'd heard you reconsidered, I took the first flight I could get out here."

"Just like that?" Ranma asked in surprise. "You fly all the way out here simply because I'm interested in training?"

"I'm part of an organization called Yami whose main goal is to preserve martial arts as a way of a life," Sehrul informed him. "There are few things more important than finding and developing new talent. Yami also has a number of resources available to it, so a flight to Japan isn't particularly troublesome."

"Works for me," Ranma told him amiably. "So how about you get started on my training? I figure you owe me quite a bit for how much I helped you out with Ethan."

"True enough," he answered with a nod. "Just follow me to where we'll be staying, and we can start immediately."

He supposed moving from the park was a wise idea. Ethan may have switched to clothes that didn't stand out in Japan, but Sehrul was still wearing that crazy loincloth thing, which was starting to draw a lot of attention. Regardless, things were finally beginning to go Ranma's way. He couldn't wait to see what tricks the martial arts master knew.

* * *

"I still think we should look for him," Ranko's father insisted while playing with the dinner he'd hardly touched. And he had been the one cooking tonight, so he didn't even have an excuse for turning his nose up at it.

"Let him have his space for now," her mother argued back. "He's determined to train himself up to beat you. If you, of all people, chase him down, it's only going to make him more stubborn."

"I'm just worried about what he might do," he replied. "With everything that happened, he can hardly be thinking straight. Someone should be there to help him through it."

"Trust in Ranma," her mother responded. "He's not the type to let anything keep him down for long. He'll pull through this. And don't even think about conveniently getting lost. I looked the other way all these years, but I won't put up with it now."

"It wasn't always intentional," her father muttered sheepishly.

Ranko was a little disappointed that he'd just run off so quickly, as she still hadn't solved the particular puzzle around his reappearance. Her parents were proving very stubborn about sticking to their story, so that front was quickly turning hopeless. She'd be more likely to get her grandfather to talk, but she was worried if she pestered him about it that he'd take it as a sign that she was interested in Ranma.

For that matter, she was grateful both her parents were opposed to any arranged marriage, as she certainly didn't want to share Reiko's predicament in the least. As sorry as she felt for her friend, Ranko knew she'd be even more miserable than Reiko was if someone were trying to push her together with Ranma. He seemed nice enough, but there was just no way it would ever work out romantically with a guy like him.

* * *

Even being told that Yami had resources at its disposal, Ranma was a bit blown away by where he was taken. It was nothing short of a mansion. Sure it might not be quite as large as Kuno's place had been. Still, that was his home, not a random property to be put to use by anyone who happened to be in the area. They even had security guarding the entrance. Ranma couldn't let himself get distracted by the place for too long though. Still, he would at least spare time for one question before he got down to business.

"So, is Ethan around?" he asked. "I'm surprised he didn't come with to get me."

"I sent him on a mission," Sehrul answered. "Yami requires you work from time to time, and he's had a fairly extensive absence from such things."

"What kind of work?" Ranma followed up curiously.

"Protecting the rich and powerful is a common task," he answered. "As I already told you, we make martial arts a way of life, and that includes a source of funding."

That actually didn't sound half bad, assuming they got a little action. Ranma wondered briefly how it would compare to running a dojo, as he'd always imagined himself doing. Anyway, he was already getting further off course than he'd planned.

"So, let's get training," Ranma declared eagerly. "I've got a real martial arts master I need to surpass as quickly as possible. For that I'm going to need to be stronger, faster, and better in any way possible. What have you got for that?"

"I wouldn't concern yourself overmuch with your strength and speed," Sehrul told him. "It varies from person to person, but every body has a physical limit beyond which you can take it no further. You're sure to hit that limit while you still have much room for your skills to grow even without focusing on them. In the long term, it's best for your training to revolve around the mental aspects of martial arts and let the physical side grow naturally as you train."

"I don't care about the long term right now," Ranma insisted, annoyed by the advice. "That could take more years than I'm willing to wait. You must know something that will make me a stronger fighter sooner rather than later, right?"

"There are certain shortcuts available if one so desires," Sehrul admitted reluctantly, "but there are very few I would actually recommend."

"Perfect," Ranma told him, ignoring the warning completely. "What's the biggest shortcut you know?"

"The biggest shortcut would all but certainly kill you at your level," Sehrul told him with a frown. "For which reason I refuse to teach it to you."

"You only think it'll kill me because you don't know what I'm capable of," Ranma boasted. "Just tell me what I need to do, and I'll make sure I survive it."

"Prove it to me then," Sehrul challenged. "Trap all your body's ki at its source as firmly as you can."

"No problem," Ranma declared confidently, as he directed his ki just as he'd been told to. If Sehrul thought he hadn't been taught how to manipulate his ki yet, he was in for a serious surprise right now.

"As I thought. That's not nearly enough," Sehrul told him, catching Ranma off-guard in his criticism. "If you're so determined, I can show you some training that will speed along your physical development, but we'll start with something a bit less suicidal."

"Hold on just a minute," Ranma protested. "I didn't expect you needed more than that, but I was hardly doing my best there. Have a look at this and tell me if you still think it's hopeless."

So saying, Ranma began to draw on the lessons he learned practicing the Umi Sen Ken. He wasn't using the sealed ability itself, but much of hiding his presence did resolve around suppressing his ki, so he was able to do so much more thoroughly by employing some of its tenets.

"Hmm, with that level it might be possible, but it's still far too risky," Sehrul declared after a careful examination. "It's a series of pressure points that completely rearrange the body's natural flow of ki. It will cause it to press forward unrelentingly in every direction, attacking your own body in the process. If you fail to control it, it will burst through your skin, tear through muscles, and even destroy your own internal organs. Even a brief lapse in control can be fatal. This was meant as a killing technique long before anyone was foolish enough to even consider it for training."

Whatever he said, Ranma could already see the potential of it in just that manner. It would be like wearing weighted clothes for your ki. Force you to struggle day and night, improving your stamina, strength, and most significantly, control where your ki was concerned. Having heard of its existence, he now felt he had to try it.

"Look, you're not going to be able to talk me out of this," Ranma declared stubbornly. "So if you're not willing to work with me, I'll go find someone who will take my training seriously."

"I suppose I could agree on a few conditions," Sehrul finally said doubtfully. "First, you're to do nothing but contain your ki once I start without my express permission. Even when I have allowed you to progress in your training, you won't ever practice it further without my supervision. Finally, if you fail to control it, I'm undoing the ability. If you somehow survive the experience, there will be no second chances."

"I agree," Ranma said solemnly, wanting to hurry him on but afraid he'd back out if Ranma didn't seem to be taking this seriously.

"Then hold still, and no matter what, don't release your hold on your ki for a moment," Sehrul ordered.

Ranma obeyed immediately, and Sehrul walked up to him and began to quickly press points all around his body. Ranma felt nothing at first and was beginning to wonder if it was actually working. Finally though, Sehrul gave him a look that Ranma knew immediately meant to steel himself and then pressed one final point. Instantly Ranma could feel his ki roar up against him. It felt as if there was a bomb going off inside him trying to burst its way out.

Ranma held firm, but the feeling didn't get any lighter as time progressed. He could see now why Sehrul had been so against this. It was a constant battle of will not to just give in to the extraordinary pressure and release it. Ranma, however, just renewed his determination. He needed this, and wasn't about to fail now.

As such, the rest of the day wasn't too hard to make it through, but the real struggle was only just beginning. When night came, he saw what the true challenge this would be as he tried to get some sleep. Every time he dozed off, his grip on his ki would slip just a little and Ranma would be woken by agony as tendrils started to force their way free. He'd snap it back shut instantly, even before Sehrul, who was watching over him the entire night could use it as an excuse to undo the technique.

Despite getting virtually no sleep that night, he got up anyway, spending the day mostly in meditation, practicing increasing his control even further. He had a good deal of success, which was a great relief in how much less strain he now felt from the technique. It had been little short of torture at first, and even Ranma had been worried his resolve would eventually fail him.

That night, Sehrul prepared to watch over him again while he prepared to sleep, but if he was still worried, he was seriously underestimating Ranma. His old man had been training him to react to threats in his sleep for as long as he could remember. Now that he was starting to get the hang of this, he figured his training would apply to keeping his ki in check as well. He'd figured right, as he was only woken twice during the night, and it wasn't nearly as bad as any of his episodes the previous night.

His third night he slept like a baby, and his fourth night, Sehrul didn't even bother to watch over him. The following day, he also began training Ranma in other areas, teaching him some of of his Kalarippayattu style along with the basics of pressure points. It turned out there was a reason he'd never been able to duplicate some of the pressure points Cologne had used. Most of the good ones weren't as simple as pressing a certain spot on the body. They actually required you inject a bit of ki in just the right manner to get the desired effect.

What that manner was varied from point to point. Ranma was currently incapable of actually practicing it, but as long as he knew the theory, he was convinced he could put it into practice once he'd finished this training. As for the rest of the style, he was already running through ideas in his head for how to incorporate it into Anything Goes.

After he'd finished his training for the day, Ranma decided to take his first bath since he'd arrived here. He wasn't normally so lax with his hygiene, but relaxing in hot water was the last thing he needed before he'd gotten a proper reign on his own out of control ki. Now, however, he was confident a little hot water wouldn't be an issue.

It turned out it was the cold water he should have feared. The activation of his curse, as he rinsed himself caused a small fluctuation in Ranma's ki that caused her control to slip. She clamped back down as quickly as she could, but it was the largest mistake she'd made since she'd started this training. A combination of surprise and pain brought on by the damage as some of her ki ran amok caused her to cry out. With the crisis passed, she quickly checked for damage. Thankfully it appeared to be little more than a few minor internal injuries. Nothing critical, and it should all heal within a day or so. Regrettably, her cry had been heard, as the door to the bathroom slid open behind her.

"Who are you?" Sehrul demanded to know.

"It's Ranma, actually," she answered, keeping her back to him in some small nod to modesty. "I picked up a Jusenkyo curse a while back. Changing did a little something with my ki that caught me off-guard, but it shouldn't be a problem again, now that I'm ready for it."

"You've had poor luck with magic, haven't you?" Sehrul replied with a sigh.

"You're telling me," Ranma muttered back.

"Make sure you return to your male form when you're done," Sehrul ordered. "I'll minimize the staff's access to the building to help, but I'd prefer you do whatever possible to keep your curse a secret from them."

"Don't worry," Ranma told him, "I'm not exactly thrilled with this curse, and I prefer to let as few people as possible in on it."

"Good," he said simply. "Then let me know when you're finished. I have some additional training planned for you."

Ranma waited for the door to slide shut again before continuing to wash. He barely even dipped into the hot water long enough to return to his guy form before leaving. He enjoyed a nice soak, but it wasn't worth delaying training over. That training progressed over the next few days as Sehrul began allowing him to try to control small amounts of ki as it moved through parts of his body. It was slower going than he'd have liked, but it was progress.

Sehrul also brought in several sparring partners for him to try out some of the stuff he was learning on. They were way below his level, but as severely handicapped as he was without the use of his ki, it at least had some value for training. That said, after about a week of this, Sehrul pulled him over, to discuss something with him.

"I've notice you have some of the best instincts I've ever seen for someone your age," he told Ranma, a statement that stirred up pride in him even if it wasn't exactly news to him. "However, that could prove to be a weakness."

"What?" Ranma complained. "How can good instincts be a weakness?"

"Because you've never needed to rely on strategy," Sehrul answered. "And any skill you don't train won't improve."

"Hey, I've used strategy plenty of times," Ranma argued. He understood that simply duking it out wasn't always enough to deal with strong opponents, and he'd beaten more than a few thanks to his wits.

"On a very basic level, I'm sure," Sehrul answered. "However, there are those who fight without using their instincts at all. Planning out every move and potential counter-move like a game of chess. Similarly there are those who have reached master level using nothing but their instincts. Regardless, each has their strength and weaknesses, and you'll be strongest if you learn not to rely on only one."

"I'm still not convinced," Ranma declared stubbornly. "If my instincts aren't enough, it just means I need to work on improving them."

"Perhaps a demonstration then," Sehrul declared, pointing a single finger at him, and before Ranma could even ask him what he meant, his instincts started screaming at him to dodge.

Doing just that, he sensed another attack, and another, and another. Ranma had completely lost track of where Sehrul actually was, the master's attacks pushing him to his limits as he was dancing all over the place trying to avoid a constant stream of blows headed for vital areas. It was then that Ranma backed up only to feel something poke the back of his neck. Jumping forward, he turned around, no longer sensing any incoming attacks, and saw Sehrul standing in a very familiar position.

"Yes, I haven't moved an inch that entire time," he answered without Ranma having to say a word. "That was a high level technique to turn your own instincts against you. Of course there are other ways as well. A clever opponent might feign a weakness in dealing with a certain type of attack, letting you repeatedly exploit it to get in minor blows. Then, once you've been fully trained to take advantage of the situation, he can hit you with a counter he's been planning for that entire time, knowing now that you would have committed instantly."

"I guess," Ranma admitted sullenly, displeased with the poor performance he'd just given.

"At the very least, practicing devising such strategies will better prepare you to identify them before you're caught," Sehrul continued. "Not to mention that you seem to pride yourself on the variety and unpredictability your style offers. I think you'd see the value in additional ways to approach a fight."

"Fine," Ranma agreed. "So what do you want me to do?"

"In your matches, I want you to ignore your instincts completely," Sehrul told him. "Think through every move before you make it. Try to predict your opponent's actions and determine how you'll react in advance, if possible. Eventually, the goal will be to combine the use of strategy and instincts. But before that, we'll need to see how far you can go with strategy alone."

Ranma's mood did improve a little at that. After all, he enjoyed a challenge and seeing how quickly he could improve himself. That eagerness faded somewhat after his first few sparring matches. Trying to predict what someone else was going to do was not an easy proposition. Sure the guys Sehrul was getting for him to fight against weren't terribly skilled, so if he just fought defensively for a while and took note of their patterns he was eventually able to make it work.

Against someone who was actually a challenge, however, he didn't see how he'd get enough time to really figure out their moves. Not to mention the penalty for guessing wrong. Then again, if he was able to watch someone fighting other people, that might give him exactly what he needed. He could certainly see the value of a few detailed plans for getting the drop on Ryoga whenever it came time to butt heads again.

So he persevered in that in addition to his primary training. As the weeks turned into months, he did almost nothing but train. Ethan only made brief appearances between missions, but they did get to chat a bit during those times. Mostly Ranma learned a bit about Yami, and its sub-group, Yomi, of which Ethan was a part. He hadn't realized Sehrul had been such a big shot in Yami, but it shouldn't surprise him considering it did revolved around martial arts and the big guy was very impressive in that regard. He'd love to see an all out fight between him and the old ghoul some day. He was sure he could learn a lot just watching that.

Ethan wasn't the only person he got to chat with either. Sehrul helped him get Ukyo's number so he could keep good on his promise to stay in touch. He enjoyed those talks whenever she wasn't trying to convince him to go visit Nerima again. Lately she'd been dialing it back to just trying to get him to call someone else. He was actually considering doing that much, but hadn't quite worked up the nerve. Maybe if he started slow and called Dr. Tofu and Kasumi first or something.

On the training front, he was finally making some worthwhile progress in his ki control. It was easily one of the most difficult obstacles he'd ever tried to overcome, and there was no end to his frustration with the pace he was overcoming it. Still, he could now recreate the flow of ki throughout his entire body, instead of only parts at a time. Only at a tiny trickle of what he was normally capable of, and it took too much of his concentration to be of any use in battle, so he was still going dry during his sparring sessions.

Overall, his situation was almost too good to be true. More days than not, he was enjoying personal training from when he woke up until when he turned in. A great way to keep his mind off other things. As a bonus, everything he needed was being taken care of, free of charge. He had to wonder though how long it would last, especially with Ethan always being sent off on missions. So one day, he finally decided to ask Sehrul about it while they were training

"You ever going to send me off on a mission?" Ranma questioned. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the training and stuff, but it's hard to believe you'll keep providing it for free. I mean I haven't even officially signed on to your little group."

"Interesting timing," Sehrul replied. "I was actually just considering sending you on one. Albeit a personal one rather than one officially sanctioned by Yami."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma asked curiously. "And what's that?"

"I've received information that the Saint Fist has been training a disciple but has not yet brought him into Yomi," he answered. "Instead, this Odin, as he'd going by, has started his own organization, known as Ragnarok. Perhaps Ogata simply wishes to look for other talent that might be worth bringing in to Yomi. Regardless, I'd like to investigate yourself. If any of Ragnarok's members do have talent, I may even be able to snap them up before Ogata does."

"You mind if I check some of the talent personally?" Ranma asked hopefully, looking forward to the potential of a good fight.

"Not at all," Sehrul said. "That's actually one of the main reasons I wanted to send you. This could be a good opportunity to find opponents the right level for your training."

That had been a problem lately. One thing Yami didn't have a surplus of, was martial artists still on a low level of strength. Masters took a few disciples, but other than that, they generally only recruited those who were already beyond what Ranma could do in his handicapped state. Even for those few disciples that might be the right level, most masters didn't just hand them out freely to help another master's disciple train. So mostly they'd just been grabbing people from local dojos, all of whom had so far been beneath him.

"Oh and one more thing," Sehrul continued. "Once you leave the facility, I want you to change to your cursed form and stay there for the duration of the mission."

"What, why?" Ranma protested.

"Plenty of the staff here has seen you in your current form," he explained, "and they don't work for me directly. It's certain the rest of Yami already knows of your existence. Us masters are somewhat competitive, and pending what you discover, I'd prefer the Saint Fist not be able to tie you back to me."

"Fine, fine," Ranma said in reply. He supposed it wasn't as bad as actually being locked, and he'd survived that more than once. Besides, as great as the training was, he'd honestly been getting a little stir crazy. So he'd put up with it for a little while if he got a chance at a little excitement.

* * *

Takeda was just leaving the school property for the day, not even bothering to meet up with the Shinpaku Alliance today. With four of Ragnarok's eight fists defeated, and Kenichi out training, things had actually been pretty quite lately. Nijima was planning a party tomorrow to welcome Kisara to the Shinpaku Alliance, but without Kenichi, Miu wasn't showing up, so he had little reason to do so himself.

Although it looked like his day would have at least one brief high note, as he spotted a red-haired, blue-eyed girl walking in his direction. That blue short sleeved shirt and black pants she wore didn't exactly make the most flattering outfit, but it couldn't hide her impressive figure. And now that he looked at it closer, it did offer the intriguing possibility of untying those knots holding the front of her shirt together and seeing what was underneath. As lost in his inspection as he was, it took him a bit to realize the girl was approaching him.

"You look like you know a bit about fighting," she said to him. "Do you know where I can find a group called Ragnarok?"

"Why would you be looking for a bunch like that?" Takeda asked in surprise. "The Shinpaku Alliance has already half destroyed that group, and as a member, I can tell you that we're a lot nicer to be around."

He put on his most winning smile, hoping to entice her into following him back to headquarters. As much as he liked Miu, a little extra eye candy never hurt. Especially considering he wouldn't be stabbing Kenichi in the back if he made any moves on her. Sadly, his efforts didn't have the desired effect.

"Interesting if true," she said doubtfully. "Still, I have business with Ragnarok, so do you or don't you know where I can find them?"

"Couldn't tell you where the survivors are hiding out," he admitted honestly. All the divisions he could have identified from his time in Ragnarok had already been disbanded.

"Thanks anyway then, guess I'll keep looking around," she said, walking past him and continuing on her original path.

"Wait," he called after her. "Can I at least get your name?"

"Uh … Tendo Ranko," she said after a moments hesitation.

"Well, I'm Takeda," he informed her. "Don't hesitate to stop by again."

Rather than continue the conversation, however, she simply sped off without another word. Tendo Ranko, huh? That was one girl he wouldn't mind seeing more of.

* * *

Ranma was still kicking herself for giving her old alias out to that silver-haired guy. You'd think she'd have thought far enough in advance to realize she needed a false name. Ah well, she wasn't planning to stay around for long, so she doubted she'd stir up trouble for the real Tendo Ranko. Anyway, she wasn't having much luck finding this Ragnarok group. Most people she asked seemed to have heard of them, but no one wanted to say anything. She was getting tempted to start trying to scare it out of them.

However, it was just then she spotted five girls wearing a strange uniform approaching her from down the street and all brandishing weapons. Finally, she might be getting somewhere. When they met, the only one wearing a non-standard uniform, hers being pink instead of blue, stepped up to address her.

"So you're the one who's been asking around about Ragnarok?" asked the brown haired girl bearing a tonfa whom she could only assume was the leader.

"That's right," Ranma confirmed. "I take it I've found them?"

"Yeah, now the question is, why were you looking for us?" the leader asked.

"Did you want to join the Valkyries?" added the one wearing a bandana and wielding a pair of sai.

"I haven't even heard of the Valkyries," Ranma answered. "I'm just doing some scouting to see if any of you are good enough to join Yomi."

Actually, she wasn't sure she was supposed to mention Yomi. Ah well, Sehrul had only said to hide his ties to him, not to Yomi in general. Besides, it was too late to worry about it now.

"Well you can take your scouting elsewhere," the leader answered sharply. "We serve Freya-sama, and we're not going to abandon her."

"Don't get so worked up," Ranma told them. "It's my understanding that Ragnarok is basically just a farm league for Yomi to begin with. And if you work under one of their members, you're probably bench warmers even there. So it's not like you're going to be good enough to begin with."

"We'll show you bench warmers," the leader spat back angrily. "Valkyries, attack!"

If they wanted a fight, that was fine with Ranma, but given her current condition, it might not be wise to just charge into a group a weapon users like she normally would have done. Besides, she was supposed to be practicing her use of strategy. So instead she danced back, constantly moving around to ensure they were never able to surround her. Whenever she got in a good position, isolating one with the rest stuck behind her, she'd charge in, give them a few good blows, and dance back out before her friends could help out.

One on one, they weren't terribly impressive. A little more dangerous than the people she had been fighting, but that might just be the weapons. Regardless, her strategy was working beautifully, and she was outright embarrassing them to the point where this was getting boring. So she decided to try to get some information out of them instead.

"So, you know where I can find this Freya of yours, or someone else who can actually fight?" Ranma asked them.

"We'd never betray Freya-sama," their leader insisted, "and you're too quick to underestimate us. We'll defeat you yet!"

"Please," Ranma said with a snort. "I've just been testing to you to see what you can do and still none of you have managed to so much as land a blow on me. You five, on the other hand, look as if you can barely stand. If you're going to hold your silence, then I'm done with you."

"Don't you dare run off!" the leader shouted angrily at her back as she'd started doing just that.

"Oh," Ranma said pausing for a moment, "and make sure to tell your bosses to send someone with some actual skill after me next time. I'll be around."

With that she hurried off, ignoring their protests. Ranma figured she'd stirred the hornets' nest enough that even if no one wanted to tell her anything, Ragnarok would find her.

* * *

Loki was shocked to hear Odin use the latest meeting of the remaining fists to call for the destruction of the Shinpaku Alliance after he'd been stonewalling it all this time. The loss of four of their eight fists must have rattled him. But now was not the time for this, and Loki needed to put a stop to it.

"I would advise against that," he told Odin.

"Why?" Odin asked suspiciously. "This is exactly what you've been asking for all along."

"Surely you've heard about the humiliation of one of Freya's Valkyrie squads?" Loki asked, seeing Freya's eyes narrow harshly at his choice of words.

"Yes, but their strength is hardly needed for this effort," Odin replied. "Berserker alone should be sufficient."

"I'm more worried about who their adversary was," he explained. "She claimed to be affiliated with Yomi, and my sources indicate that Yomi could be far more dangerous than the Shinpaku Alliance. If they've already made their first move against us, I would advise caution. If we move against Shinpaku, Yomi could use the opportunity to strike us while we're distracted."

Odin was taking his time considering these words. If he made the wrong choice, Loki might have to consider putting into action his plan to replace Odin. He hoped it didn't come to that, however, as Yomi truly did worry him, and Odin would be a useful tool in that particular battle.

"Very well," Odin finally said. "We'll use caution for the moment. Use this opportunity to learn everything you can about Yomi and their movements, Loki. My patience in this matter won't last forever."

"Very well," Loki answered in relief. Between the existing forces and the new fists he'd been gathering in secret, they would hopefully be able to handle Yomi. Whoever was left after that battle should be more than enough to wipe out the Shinpaku Alliance.

* * *

The Elder dropped Kenichi off right in front of the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, landing him next to Takeda, who had been hurrying toward the complex himself.

"So what's happening with the attack?" Kenichi asked him worriedly as soon as he landed.

"What attack?" Takeda asked. "Nijima said he was calling an emergency meeting, but didn't mention anything about an attack."

"Che," Kenichi muttered out loud. "It looks like that alien has manipulated me again."

Not only had he had to interrupt his training with the Elder, but he'd been put through the terrifying experience of clinging to the man as he ran him back here.

"Well, why don't we at least find out what this is about?" Takeda suggested.

"Might as well," Kenichi agreed. "Besides, I need to give Nijima a piece of my mind."

As they reached the entrance to the building, a red-haired girl hurried out, clutching a piece of paper in her hand and wearing a feral grin. She paid them no mind as she rushed off into the distance.

"That was the girl I met yesterday who was looking for Ragnarok," Takeda announced, making Kenichi even more curious. So the two of them entered the building, spotting Nijima right away.

"Perfect timing you two," Nijima announced. "I just set the final piece in motion, so now we move into the final stages of my master plan."

"Did it have anything to do with that girl?" Takeda asked him.

"Yes," Nijima confirmed. "It turns out she's an agent of Yomi, an organization that my sources say has even Ragnarok spooked. Anyway, she just left because I delivered her a challenge to Yomi from Ragnarok."

"Ragnarok actually gave us a challenge message to pass on to Yomi?" Kenichi asked in confusion.

"Not really," Nijima replied, "but then again, Yomi wasn't really behind the similar challenge I ensured was delivered to Ragnarok. I was actually beginning to worry I wouldn't be able to find her in time, but everything is set now. Ragnarok and Yomi will wear themselves out, and the Shinpaku Alliance will be there to annihilate whichever one survives!"

"What? You can't do that," Kenichi protested, grabbing Nijima by his shirt and lifting him into the air. "Yomi hasn't even done anything to us, and you're trying to set them up in a war? We have to catch that girl and stop her."

"Don't worry, the challenge isn't set for several hours yet," the alien answered calmly. "I still think we should stick with the plan, but if you're that determined to stop her, I can gather the alliance together to fan out and try to stop Yomi before they arrive. Although you do realize that we'll be missing a great opportunity if we do, right?"

"Just do it," Kenichi ordered, setting him back down none too gently. One good thing about being brought back too soon was that he could actually try to keep Nijima under some semblance of control.

* * *

Having heard from her grandfather than Kenichi was back, Miu immediately went looking for him. She finally managed to track him down, spotting him walking toward some destination alongside Takeda.

"Kenichi!" she called out to him. "Where are you going?"

"Hey there, Honey," Takeda waved to her in greeting.

"Ah, Miu," Kenichi added. "We're just trying to deal with another of Nijima's schemes. He's trying to trick some other group to fight Ragnarok for us, and we're going to stop it before it can happen."

Miu was curious as to the details of that, but assumed she'd be getting the information shortly as Nijima was marching toward them with Kisara, Ukita, Siegfried, and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance forces.

"Great. You're here," Kenichi greeted them warmly. "Let's spread out and do our best to stop this before it's too late."

"Keep it down," Nijima told him as he approached, before pointing to a hill a short distance from the road. "There should be enough cover in the bushes up there for everyone Vice-Captain rank or higher. The rest of you need to wait here for the signal."

"What are you talking about?" Kenichi asked, before his face turned into a frown. "You lied about the time you wrote in those letters, didn't you?"

"Of course," Nijima said with glee. "I couldn't let you ruin a perfect plan like that."

"So what exactly is going on?" Miu asked, still a little lost.

"What's going on is that Ragnarok and Yomi and going to destroy each other for us," Nijima said as he started crawling toward the hill. "While that goes on, we sit back and collect intel on their strengths. That's especially important if Yomi wins because I've found out next to nothing about them."

Miu followed him up the hill with Kenichi and Shinpaku's leaders doing likewise. Reaching the top, Miu peeked through the bushes from where she lay prone on the ground. She saw an impressive array of forces spread around a field that looked to be used for soccer, among other sports. Ryuto himself was included in those numbers. There was something odd about them, however, something she was sure Nijima had picked up on as well.

"They're all Ragnarok forces," he said, worry clear in his voice. "Did Yomi decide not to come?"

"No, look," Takeda pointed out. "That's the girl from before."

Miu directed her gaze to where Takeda was pointing to see a red-haired girl that did seem to be the center of attention.

"That fool couldn't actually have come alone, could she?" Nijima complained. "I know it took me a while to find her, but she should have had time to call the rest of her forces. Maybe Yomi is planning their own ambush?"

"You met her before, Takeda. Is it possible she's strong enough to take them on herself?" Kenichi asked hopefully, from his position immediately to her left.

"All I got out of her was her name," he answered. "It's Tendo Ranko, by the way."

"Let me check," Nijima interjected, as a couple of antenna popped out of his hair and he stared ahead with a weird look on his face for several seconds before giving his answer. "It's hopeless. She's at least above Ukita, but not really very strong."

"Hey," Ukita complained.

"We need to help her then," Kenichi insisted, moving as if to stand up, but Miu stopped him before he could. "Let's at least make sure we understand the situation before we rush in."

Kenichi didn't look convinced, but Ryuto started talking before could object further.

"I'm surprised you've come alone," he told her, thankfully projecting his voice so that everyone assembled could hear.

"Well, I'm surprised you have so many people in your organization," Ranko responded just as loudly as she looked around. "Although most of them don't look like much."

"Oh, and how does Yomi prefer to run things?" Ryuto inquired.

"I'm not exactly an expert, but basically there's nine guys at the top," she answered. "I've only met one of them, but he's pretty strong, so I expect they all are."

"And how strong is that?" Ryuto questioned.

"I don't know how to explain it," Ranko told him. "You haven't exactly sent anyone my way I could use for a fair comparison."

"That's a problem I believe I can solve," he declared with a smirk. "Freya, I believe you have business with her."

"Ah, so you're Freya," Ranko said cheerfully as a girl with short, dark brown hair approached her. "I hope you're at least a little more challenging that those Valkyries of yours were."

"What did she do them?" Kisara growled from where she was hiding.

"Calm down before you give us away," Nijima told her. "The Valkyries are all right over there, so she couldn't have hurt them too badly."

"Ah, so they are," Kisara said a bit sheepishly. "But I still don't like the way she's talking. Not that it matters much. Freya will make her pay for those words."

"I think you'll find I know a few tricks," Freya answered as a staff shot out and nailed Ranko in the stomach, sending her backward. It was easy to see from their angle, but the way Freya had concealed it, Ranko probably didn't even know what had hit her.

"A staff user, huh?" Ranko declared as she picked herself back up, proving her eyes were impressive at the very least.

Freya followed up her attack and quickly put Ranko on the ropes. The smaller girl was doing an impressive job of dodging, but Freya was clearly faster. Adding in the advantage of reach the staff gave her, and Ranko was completely on the defensive. Even in that regard she looked to be struggling.

"We have to help her," Kenichi insisted, seeing the uneven fight himself.

"Wait," Miu declared, stopping him again. "Something isn't right. Ranko's moves are far too skilled for how slow she's moving. I think she may be holding back."

He settled down, but Miu could tell he was still dying to charge in there despite how many opponents would be surrounding him. Of course, that was one of the things Miu liked about him.

"Your staff is really getting annoying," Ranko called out in frustration, before lunging for the weapon with her hand after Freya had used it to block a kick.

But then, to everyone's surprise, Freya actually pulled the staff apart into two equal halves, leaving Ranko to grab nothing but air. Quickly moving both haves to one side, she held the two of them together and swung them almost like a baseball bat right into Ranko's side. The force threw the girl several feet to the side in what must have been a painful manner. Freya then combined the staff back into one piece and pressed her assault on Ranko. Lifting her staff above her head, she prepared for a finishing blow against the girl who was just trying to crawl back to her feet.

Miu was surprised Kenichi hadn't made any other protests until she glanced over to realize he wasn't there. While Miu had been watching the fight, Kenichi had already run out from their cover. He'd left just soon enough to place himself between the two combatants and intercept the downward strike with a cross-arm block.

"He came from over there," one of Ragnarok's grunts called out, pointing in their direction.

"Look, there are more of them hiding in the bushes," another added.

"Curse that fool!" Nijima spat out.

"We're the ones who actually sent both challenge letters!" Kenichi called out loudly so everyone could hear. "So let Ranko go. She doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Stand down, men," Ryuto called out to where his underlings were starting to converge on Miu and the Shinpaku Alliance leaders. "It seems they were kind enough to host this little event for us. Let's not be rude. We'll deal with them after they've had the chance to enjoy the rest of the show."

Not seeing much of a point in hiding anymore, Miu stood up, the others near her doing the same. Most of them immediately got into defensive positions, not fully trusting Ryuto's words. Nevertheless, they'd seemed to stop his subordinates. Kenichi's own words, however, proved somewhat less effective.

"Whatever the cause for this, my fight with her is personal," Freya declared. "If you wish to stop me, you'll have to fight me yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I don't hit girls," Kenichi declared firmly.

Miu actually winced at that, considering his current position. Many female fighters didn't take kindly to those who wouldn't fight them seriously because of their gender. This point was only evidenced by Kisara's nearby growling.

"He's still going on about that?" Kisara complained angrily.

However, the reaction of the two girls in question, was much more muted by comparison.

"I have a weapon, so it's fine," Freya told him.

"I understand completely," Ranko added.

It seemed Kenichi had lucked out somewhat this particular time.

"Still, you shouldn't have interrupted," Ranko continued, planting a foot on Kenichi's back and shoving him out of the way. "I don't care who started this whole thing, but this is my fight and I'm going to finish it."

Kenichi looked ready to protest further, but Miu was already at his side, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the group. "Kenichi, they both have their own reasons for fighting," she told him. "It would be wrong to get in their way."

"Okay," he conceded grudgingly, letting himself be led along.

"Now, I believe you were about to hit me with that strike of yours," Ranko declared once they were clear. "So get on with it. I'm not going to owe my win to his interference."

"You're sure of this?" Freya asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and don't you dare hold back," Ranko insisted firmly. "I want you to hit me every bit as hard as you would have the first time."

"Very well," Freya agreed respectfully, pulling back to do just that.

"She really is a good person," Kenichi said softly enough that the fighters wouldn't be able to overhear. "I wish she would have let me help her."

However, as resolved as Ranko looked to be to take the blow, when the staff actually swung down, she twisted to the side, avoiding it completely. Continuing her footwork, she dashed to Freya's side and spun into a kick that caught Freya in the back, sending her sprawling forward. Freya planted her staff in the ground to catch herself before she landed, then spun herself back around to face Ranko, holding her staff up defensively against whatever Ranko's next attack would be.

Rather than trying to attack her nearly downed opponent, Ranko reached out her right arm to make another attempt to grab the staff. Once again, Freya split it in half, but this time Ranko was ready, adjusting the course of her arm to the right and grabbing on the the end of the staff in Freya's left hand. She didn't have the best of leverage if she hoped to pull it away, but Ranko was already in motion, spinning herself counter-clockwise, and using the force of her spin to wrench that half free from Freya's grasp.

As if that wasn't enough, the angle was such that when it was pulled free, the released end was swung directly in the back of Freya's right hand. It smashed into it with enough force to cause Freya to release it involuntarily, which Ranko reacted to by knocking it toward her with the half she'd already stolen and grabbing it in her left hand.

"This is my defeat," Freya announced sullenly after seeing the situation she was in.

"Great," Ranko said cheerfully. "But just in case, I'm going to get rid of these things."

Saying so, she tossed the two halves of the staff over toward where the Shinpaku Alliance was gathered, which Nijima gleefully plucked them up, laughing loudly as he did. Meanwhile, Kenichi was holding both hands to either side of a wide open mouth.

"She's not a good person at all!" he finally declared in shock.

"I was right. She was holding back," Miu mused, ignoring his outburst. "Ever since the fight started up again, she was moving much faster than before. She just used Kenichi's distraction to help catch Freya off-guard before revealing that."

"Yeah, it's because of your stupidity that Freya lost," Kisara complained angrily, wrapping her hands around his neck from behind him and trying to choke him. "Don't think I'll forgive you easily for that."

"It's not my fault," Kenichi declared defensively, able to get the words out despite his position. "How was I supposed to know she would use a dirty trick like that?"

"I would hardly call it a dirty trick," Sakaki announced, causing Miu to turn and see that all of Ryozanpaku's masters save her grandfather had gathered around them. "You're simply too kind. Any martial artist should be willing to go at least that far."

"I tend to agree," Akisame added. "Martial arts is largely designed around deception and misdirection. Simply using your mouth rather than your fists to that effect hardly makes it unethical."

"When did you all get here?" Miu asked warmly, glad to have someone who might help Kenichi out if he got himself into too much trouble. Well, hopefully one of them would at least consider it.

"Apachai has been here all along," Apachai announced.

"We decided not to hide anymore," Shigure added in further explanation.

The masters were getting some very strange looks from the members of the Alliance who had yet to see them. Kenichi was giving them looks as well, but for a completely different reason.

"Forget about that," he snapped. "How can you two say that? It was clearly wrong of her."

"I think it's practically criminal of Ranko," Kensei interjected.

"See, at least Ma-sensei agrees with me," Kenichi responded gratefully.

"Not that, you fool," he berated Kenichi. "Her clothes. China has produced a plethora of styles that are highly sensual while still remaining easy to fight in. If she's going to wear Chinese clothes, it should **not** be clothing designed for a man."

"She's a girl now?" Apachai asked curiously.

"Of course she's a girl," Kensei replied. "Although in those clothes it's no surprise if you were confused."

It was then that Miu noticed Kenichi had turned to Ranko and was looking at her a little _too _closely for Miu's tastes.

"You're thinking awfully hard about what he said, aren't you?" Miu asked a bit icily.

"No, no!" he replied in a panic. "I wasn't thinking about what she'd look like in other clothing at all!"

Further discussion was postponed for the moment as Ryuto was speaking again. Only postponed though.

* * *

Ranma might have gone against Sehrul's wishes a bit in that fight, but her current sensei would have to be proud of the result. Her speed had proven itself insufficient at the start of the fight, so when that Kenichi guy had jumped in, she'd decided to risk running a bit of ki through her body for the remainder of the fight. Well, she hadn't lost control, and combined with her quick thinking, it had been more than enough to finish the fight decisively.

And how was that for strategy? The bit at the start may have just been the sort of cheap trick her father had long ago taught her to use, but everything after that had been planned out and predicted, and it had worked beautifully. So that was a major success in both areas she was working on.

"There, you've seen what Freya was capable of," Odin declared, jarring her from her thoughts and not sounding the list bit disturbed by Freya's loss. "So tell me, how strong are these leaders of Yomi?"

"Still not enough to say much," Ranma answered smugly. "Way above her level anyway."

"I admit you've caught my interest now," Odin declared. "Enough so that I'm going to have Berserker give you a little more to work with."

"Glad to hear it," Ranma replied, looking forward to more practice fighting while using ki, now that she'd proven she could handle it.

"Just try to leave her conscious long enough to give us a decent estimate," Odin told the large fighter with spiky blond hair as he approached her.

Ranma got herself into a defensive stance that was designed to make it easy to go into a fighting retreat once she was attacked. She had no idea what this guy's fighting style was, and wanted to get a bit more information on him before going on the offensive. Even so, she barely avoided the first punch headed her way as she retreated backward. This guy's speed was way above where Freya's had been.

On the positive side, there hadn't looked to be much skill behind it. If this guy was nothing but physical ability, then it should be fairly easy to predict his movements and counter them. She prepared to give that an attempt after getting some space. If he tried the same move again, he'd just be using his own momentum to increase the strength of the punch his face would be receiving.

Waiting for the instant she saw movement from him, she was in action. But rather than a punch, Berserker had leaped into the air, over her own attempted counter, and latched on to her shoulders with his hands. Ranma prepared herself for the throw she knew must be coming, kicking herself for having underestimated the guy after his first attack. Her preparations were in vein, as no such throw came. Instead Berserker balanced into a handstand, then fell forward again, kicking Ranma in the head and knocking her back.

That attack hadn't even made any sense. Ranma had to wonder if Berserker had just been mocking her with that. If he had, he kept it up. Virtually all his attacks were as crazy and unpredictable as that one. Even going completely into defensive mode and just trying to get space, she'd been unable to avoid all his attacks, and the damage was quickly building up. The only silver lining in this was that as she burned through her ki, it became easier to control, which allowed her to run more through her body at once. So she was in the odd scenario where the more tired she became, the faster and stronger she got.

If only she could fire off a few Moko Takabasha to really drain her reserves, she'd be all set. That strategy was unlikely seeing as there was no way she could manage one of those without tearing her arm to shreds. And she wasn't willing to give up an arm to win a fight. At least not when there were still other options on the table. To that effect, considering how the struggle caused her to burn through ki much faster than one would expect given the amount she was using, she'd already seen a significant increase in its flow.

That might not be enough though. She'd reach her peak far below her normal abilities, and as best she as could tell, she'd still be slower than Berserker at that point. Given his style, that simply wasn't going to be enough. She could watch him fight for days upon days and she'd probably still have no idea what his next move would be. How were you supposed to predict someone whose moves didn't follow reason in the first place?

Still, Ranma was determined to at least get one blow in on the guy. Her pride wouldn't let her settle for any less. But how was she supposed to do that? Maybe she needed to take a step back and look at it from another angle. What did she know about this guy? His attacks seemed almost random in nature. It didn't look as if he'd had any training at all. But his fighting instincts were incredible. Ranma had yet to see him miss that chance to exploit any openings his attacks created.

Maybe that was her starting point. If he always exploited an opening, then if Ranma deliberately made one, she'd know when he'd attack and where he'd be targeting. Even so, he'd probably do it in the most ridiculous way possible, so that still left far too many variables. She had to cut down on them somehow but … wait, she'd already said it. He'd attack in the most ridiculous way possible. So if she eliminated as many possible options as she could, she'd be left with something she might be able to work with.

Even better, this was one area the way he fought would actually aid her. His crazy moves often left him in positions that weren't exactly the most practical. His speed and natural talent had always prevented Ranma from taking advantage of that, but it should leave him with several parts of his body that simply were not capable of being used to attack the opening he would create. So now Ranma needed to do her best to get him in just such a position while still being in a state where she could take advantage of it.

To that end, she took a page from Sehrul's initial lesson and started leaving other openings, encouraging him to attack but in places less likely to put her severely off balance. After several failures where either his attack had left him in too strong a stance, or jarred Ranma too far from the position she needed to be in, she saw just what she was looking for. A midair punch from Berserker had forced her back, but done little more. Meanwhile, Berserker's landing was going to leave him in a very poor position.

He was turned sideways to her and leaning at a fairly steep angle in her direction. Just before he touched down, she dropped the guard from her left arm as if in pain, leaving a large opening she was counting on him being unable to resist. He'd be able to push forward with his legs, but leaned forward as much as he was, they were in no position to kick, at least not in a way that would reach the opening in her guard before she could dance out of range.

Similarly, turned to the side as he was, his left arm would be too slow. It was the same for everything else she could think of, up to and including crazy cartwheels forward. It just wasn't possible to complete them fast enough. The only viable attacks he had were right hand, right elbow, right shoulder, and head. Knowing the time he would attack, where he would attack, and such a limited range of possible attacks gave her a counter that should work for any of them.

She'd already been in motion the moment she'd dropped her guard, knowing he'd react all but instantly. Ranma had dug her foot into the ground, going in into a spin that took her toward Berserker's left while she simultaneously pushed herself toward him, rather than dodging back as she'd just been doing. It also went contrary to her primary reaction to any attack this entire fight. While she was in motion, she saw that Berserker was indeed charging forward off the foot that had just touched down.

However, rather than a simple straight punch any normal martial artist would have done to break through the guard as quickly as possible, he chose a fierce hook that had probably been aimed at her kidneys. This made for a much closer call than it would have otherwise, as she couldn't just dodge a hook cleanly to the side. Still, between their combined change in momentum, she made it inside the range of the punch just in time, feeling it brush her clothes as it went by.

Thankful she hadn't tried this any sooner, as she'd needed every bit of speed she had. Anyway, she continued her spin until she'd gone a complete three-sixty, using her momentum to slam her fist into the side of Berserker's head. He'd managed to twist with the punch to reduce its damage, but it had still been a clean blow. She'd reached her goal, and gotten one hit in. She was satisfied with that.

Now that she'd proven she could at least take the strategy Sehrul wanted that far, it was time to actually win this fight. She'd see just how well Berserker could do when she brought her own fighting instincts into play. Ranma figured she'd tired herself out to the point where she had more than enough speed to handle him. Now it was time for the fun to begin.

* * *

Kenichi couldn't help but cheer up a bit when Ranko got her first hit on Berserker. He still wasn't very happy with the trick she'd played, but seeing a guy beating up on a girl like that just didn't sit right with him at all.

"That last bit was well done," Akisame declared. "But I'm afraid she took more damage setting it up than she did as a result."

"It doesn't matter," Sakaki replied. "Losing is bad enough, doing so without even getting in one hit? Any price is worth it to get around that. Now, even if he kills her, she can have some peace."

"Don't say that!" Miu insisted loudly. "She's been getting faster the entire fight. She might still be holding back enough to win."

"She's been getting faster?" Kenichi asked curiously.

"How can you not have noticed?" Sakaki complained. "She's like twice as fast as when she started the fight."

"It's just like a frog being slowly boiled," Kensei cut in. "She's been increasing her speed so slowly that Kenichi's brain never notices."

"Don't treat my brain like it's a frog!" Kenichi protested angrily.

"Quiet," Nijima hushed him. "They're talking again."

"Now that you've gotten a taste of Berserker, will you tell us how Yomi compares, or does he have to beat that information out of you?" Ryuto asked.

"Sorry to say, but the one I know wouldn't have broken a sweat against Berserker," Ranko answered. "As for beating anything out of me, well, I've been practicing a couple of things, but I suppose it's time to take this fight seriously. So if anyone is going to be forced to talk, it's him."

"She has to be bluffing ... on both counts," Ukita declared worried. "But especially on the first. There's no way they have anyone that could beat that monster so easily. Much less nine such people."

"I still think there might be hope," Miu insisted. "We'll just see how much speed she was still holding back now."

They didn't have to wait long, as Ranko made her move, sprinting straight at Berserker. The larger fighter sent both fists at her simultaneously, but Ranko twisted to the side at the last second, slipping between his two arms with her lithe frame and firing an open palmed strike into his chest that sent Berserker staggering back several feet. The large fighter quickly regained his balance and went on the offensive himself this time, but Ranko again danced around his blows, this time getting him into a hold and throwing him painfully to the ground.

"I see," said Akisame. "That's it."

"What's it?" Miu asked. "How is she suddenly winning? Her speed hasn't gone up enough to cause such a sudden change in fortune. She's still quite a bit slower than he is."

"She was telling the truth when she said she was practicing a couple of things before," Kensei explained. "Before she was trying to outthink him. Now she's using her own natural talent."

"And impressive talents those are," Akisame agreed. "I'd say her instincts at least in the same league as Berserker, even if she doesn't quite match him."

"I see," Miu nodded, accepting that, but Kenichi was still confused. Thankfully Takeda asked the question he'd been intending to, so he didn't have to risk making a fool of himself again.

"But if her instincts aren't better than his, and Berserker is still faster, shouldn't he be winning?" Takeda queried.

"Ah, but you see, her instincts have been tempered by her training," Akisame clarified. "Berserker is wild and unpredictable, which can actually help against some people with training as they don't know how to react to him. However, there's a reason martial arts train you to move your bodies in specific ways. They're the most efficient and effective. Even when his movements are something Ranko has never seen her instincts tell her exactly where he's vulnerable and her training shows her the way to exploit that as efficiently as possible."

"Yes, to her, his techniques become little more than mistakes," Kensei added. "Situations not dealt with as well as they should have been. Taking advantage of that more than makes up for the difference in speed."

"Still, I'm impressed with her guts," Sakaki cut in. "Surrounded by enemies she lets herself get beaten half to a pulp just to get in a little extra training. Our own disciple could learn a thing or two from her."

"That's not guts; that's just stupid!" Kisara protested before Kenichi even got the chance.

"Whatever it is, we need to get her to join the Shinpaku Alliance," Nijima declared, his eyes already sparkling at the sight in front of him. That sight being Berserker as he continued to be handled in about as lopsided a manner as the fight had been in the other direction at the start.

Even as he flew into a rage that fit well with his name, it did little to help him. Finally the fight did come to a stop when Berserker seemed completely unable to pick himself back off the ground. Nijima immediately seized the moment to step forward and address the crowd.

"Surrender now, Ragnarok," he declared. "Two of your remaining four leaders have just been beaten, and the Shinpaku Alliance is still completely unscathed."

"There's going to be a third leader down for the count in just a moment," a new voice added, leading Kenichi to turn to where Tanimoto had just appeared behind the two remaining leaders of Ragnarok.

"Tanimoto!" he called out cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to pay back a debt I owe to Loki," he announced, and from the look that was in his eyes, Kenichi was glad he wasn't in Loki's shoes right now.

* * *

Ranma had been so caught up in the fights, it was only now, looking down on the defeated Berserker that she remembered the main goal of her mission. Checking out the talent in Ragnarok. Freya was maybe a bit of a puzzle. Her skill with the staff was the real deal, but she hadn't been doing a very good job of training her body. If she wasn't afraid of a little hard work to get her speed and strength up, she could become a decent fighter.

As focused as she was on the staff though, Sehrul bringing her in for training didn't make a lot of sense. She needed staff training, and as and good as she was, she probably already had someone teaching her in the regard. As for the physical side, a master wasn't needed for that, just good old fashion perseverance and effort.

Berserker, on the other hand, was a far more intriguing prospect. He looked to have plenty of natural talent. As long as he could take to actual training, he'd be perfect to bring in. You could even teach him whatever style you wanted since you didn't have much of anything to work around. Ranma wouldn't mind fighting him again if that were the case. She'd only been half listening to a bit of a commotion that was starting up during her analysis, since it didn't apply to her directly. But when she saw that new guy in the cloak attack one of the Ragnarok guys, she started to pay better attention.

"What are you doing, Odin?" Loki cried out. "Help me!"

"You only meant to betray me anyway," Odin answered. "I think I'll just let Hermit have his way with you."

Heh, Ranma didn't know what had gone on between the three of them, but that was seriously cold of Odin. Loki was clearly outclassed. Even when he called six other fighters he labeled the 'new fists' or something like that, Hermit just started demolishing them as well. The Hermit guy actually wasn't half bad. Probably stronger in a fight than Berserker, although Ranma still had her eye on her defeated opponent, if only for his potential. Odin didn't even wait for the fight to completely finish before he addressed Ranma.

"I do appreciate what you've done here," he told Ranma. "I know now that I need to take Yomi seriously. Still, I think I'll use you to send my own message back."

"I won't let you do that, Ryuto" that Kenichi guy declared, butting his way in again. "Can't you see how injured she already is? If you're going to fight anyone, it'll be me."

Ranma's first instinct was to protest, but she knew her own body well enough to know how rough of a shape she was in even before the adrenaline rush had worn off and left her at the mercy of her pain and exhaustion. She was badly bruised and battered with one of her eyes trying to decide if it wanted to swell shut. Even worse, she'd she'd just started to come down from her peak power a little at the very end of the fight with Berserker.

That might not seem too bad, but that was just because she couldn't even generate enough power to reach to maximum she could handle forcing through her body at once. She was basically running on fumes. Doing that when fighting a guy who was certain to be stronger than Berserker didn't sound like a wise idea to her. If Kenichi wanted first crack at him, she'd sit back, watch what Odin was capable of, and recover as much strength as she could. Then, if Kenichi lost, she could finish him.

"That's what I hate about you, Kenichi," Odin declared in a fury. "She's from Yomi. She's your enemy too, and yet you insist on protecting her? It seems another lesson is in order."

It looked like these two had history between them, which made her feel better about her decision. She wasn't one to get in the way of a man-to-man fight. Besides, now that she had a moment to herself, she wanted to find out what everyone she'd met at Ryozanpaku was doing here. Well, everyone but that stupid old man, but she wasn't at all upset about his absence. Still, she supposed there was no need to hold him against the rest of them. They'd all treated her well enough.

So she made her way over to the group, almost taking offense at the lack of reaction to her arrival she got, until she noticed that everyone was simply enthralled by the fight that had already started. It was enough to make her forget why she'd come over as well. The two of them were definitely both at a higher level than Berserker had been, and honestly she knew she'd have a tough time taking either of them even if she got a bit of rest. So she'd better keep a close eye on this fight and look for any potential weaknesses.

The fight started off fairly even, but then, for some reason, Odin took his glasses off, and after that, it turned completely in his favor. She'd thought at first they'd actually been hurting his vision until the folks around her starting tossing around words like inner eye. Looking at it more closely, she saw what they were talking about. Odin had simply learned Kenichi's movements and was now tearing the other boy to pieces.

"Kenichi really isn't very good, is he?" Ranma asked out loud.

"That's funny," a short-haired girl in a cap said angrily, "because from here it looks a lot more impressive than anything you did."

Ranma just ignored the jab, since if she'd seen herself fighting out there she wouldn't have thought she was very strong either. Talented and amazing beyond belief, yes, but not strong. Anyway, wasn't that the Takeda guy she'd identified herself as Ranko to standing near her? Did that make this that whatever Alliance thing he'd been talking about? And there was that weird looking guy who had given her the challenge letter. That's what Kenichi must have meant when he'd been going on about it being their fault. Ah well, he may have tricked her, but she got what she'd wanted out of it, so she supposed they were even.

"I just mean that his attack patterns are way too repetitive," she explained. "It's no wonder that Odin sees right through them, he's like a monkey just repeating something he was taught. For all the good moves he knows, it's almost a joke how ineffectively he uses them."

Despite her perfectly reasonable explanation, the girl seemed prepared to argue further, but Akisame made a motion to calm her. "No, he's quite right, I'm afraid." he declared. "Kenichi really doesn't have any talent."

Of course she was right. Ranma knew how to spot talent, or the lack thereof. That girl should have just taken her word for it without needing confirmation.

"Still, I am impressed with his execution," Ranma admitted. "His moves are very sharp. I haven't seem him get sloppy even when he's being beaten on. Whoever trained him must be a miracle worker to get someone like him to that level."

"It certainly wasn't easy," that short Chinese master whose name she didn't think she'd ever got declared.

"We did what we could," Akisame added.

"Apachai helped!" the largest of the group chimed in.

"Wait a second," Ranma said looking around at the group of masters and seeing the proud reactions her words had elicited even from those who hadn't answered. "You guys are training him?"

"That's right," the blonde girl from Ryozanpaku answered for him. He really should have done a better job at getting names, but he'd been too excited about the prospect of training. "Kenichi is the number one disciple of Ryozanpaku."

"Ah, it's like Apachai!" Apachai called out cheerfully, drawing his attention back to the fight and where Kenichi had taken a Muay Thai stance.

He continued to switch from one stance to another, much to the delight of the masters he was mimicking. His actions were again turning the fight to his own favor, as Odin seemed incapable of dealing with the constantly changing fighting styles.

"A bit late, but I guess he's a little better than I gave him credit for," Ranma admitted. She didn't have any trouble doing so herself, but she knew that few people were able to switch to a style other than their own and still fight at all effectively in it.

It looked like Kenichi was actually going to wrap this up himself until Odin went into a very Berserker like rage. Only in his case, it actually increased the speed and ferocity of his attacks dramatically. Kenichi was quickly taking a thrashing that put the worst of what she'd gone through in her own fight with Berserker to shame. She was surprised he was even still managing to pick himself up.

"He's using Dou and Sei at the same time," Akisame announced. "He's going to destroy his body if he continues that for long."

Dou and Sei? Ranma had certainly heard the terms from time to time. As far as she knew though, Dou simply meant using an aggressive style of fighting while Sei was a passive style. But how could you fight passively and aggressively at the same time? And why would it destroy your body to do so?

Whatever they were talking about, Ranma had to wonder if Kenichi were doing the same thing, as his own speed increased drastically without any more warning than when Odin's had. Although for Kenichi, he seemed to be keeping his cool and even his fighting skill looked to have improved. It was still nowhere near her level, but it was a far sight better than what he'd shown himself capable of before.

"Has he been holding back this whole time?" she asked.

"No," Akisame answered him. "At least not on purpose. Kenichi just has trouble going all out for his own sake. He's already realized that something is wrong with his opponent, so he's finding the strength to try to end it quickly."

It was working too, as this back and forth fight has switched back into Kenichi's favor once again. Even more, they may have been right about Odin harming himself, as he was slowing further than his injuries should account for. All too quickly, Odin seemed to begin to lose the ability to even move whole parts of his body. It might not be official yet, but this fight was over.

Ranma wasn't sure what to think of the winner though. Kenichi may give the impression of being incompetent more than Ryoga ever did at his worst, but he was certainly full of surprises. If she had to be thrown this far into the future, it was almost a shame it hadn't gone a couple of years further. She'd had loved to try her own luck against him when he was a little closer to her own level.

* * *

Miu's heart raced for a second when that man who'd suddenly appeared and gathered up Ryuto, immediately turned his efforts to collecting Kenichi as well. Thankfully, her grandfather finally made his appearance and stopped the man, forcing him to depart with only one teen. Meanwhile, most of the assembled crowd still seemed in shock from the defeat of their leader, but Nijima was quick to seize the opportunity.

"The eight fists have been wiped out!" he yelled to everyone. "Shinpaku Alliance, advance and annihilate all who don't surrender!"

A cheer roared up from behind them, as all the rank and file members surged forward, with Siegfried, Kisara, Ukita, and Takeda leading the helm, seeming eager for a fight of their own. Judging by the morale of the other side, she didn't expect they'd have much opposition, despite still being outnumbered. Nijima himself simply let them run past before turning his attention to Ranko.

"I'd like to thank you for your help and apologize if I might have taken advantage of you just a little," he told her graciously.

"Don't sweat it," she replied. "I'd have come even if I'd known the truth. It was definitely worth it."

"I'm glad to hear that," Nijima replied with a smile. "Because I was hoping I might talk you into joining the Shinpaku Alliance."

"Not interested," she said without any hesitation.

"You might wish to reconsider," he urged her. "You said you're not one of the nine leaders of Yomi, but I'd make you a Captain right off the bat. Under only myself and the Sub-Commander."

"Look," she replied firmly. "I take my training seriously. I enjoyed this fight, but I don't have time to be playing your little games or fighting over territory, or whatever it is you do."

"Yomi is different?" Nijima asked curiously before shaking his head and holding out an envelope. "Never mind that. If you won't join at least take this."

Miu was curious as to what it was, and Ranko must have been as well, as she wasted no time ripping it open and reading it.

"Sure, I can at least do that much," she said with a smile after she'd finished. "But the excitement is over, so I need to be getting back. So long."

"What are you giving her now?" Kenichi asked, as her grandfather dropped him off just as Ranko was hurrying off into the distance.

"Another challenge letter," he replied cheerfully. "This one against the Shinpaku Alliance."

"What?" Kenichi cried out. "We just got done with Ragnarok and you're already trying to pick a fight with Yomi?"

Miu was a little concerned with this plan as well. Kenichi had sustained quite a few injuries in his fight, and wouldn't be in any shape for another fight like that just yet.

"Don't worry," Nijima assured him. "If she came alone to this she's sure to do the same for us. Besides, I don't even want to fight her. I just needed to get her to show up again so I'd have more time to convince her to join. Now we have a week to learn about who she is and use that to our advantage."

"Why do you even need to know that?" Kenichi asked. "Aren't you just going to use your alien brainwashing waves to make her join?"

"Kenichi," Miu berated him lightly. "There's no need to say that."

"I'll use those of course," Nijima declared, apparently playing along with Kenichi's joke, "but I still need to trick her into staying long enough for them to take effect. So in one week's time Ranko should be our newest Captain. For now, I need to go have a chat with Freya."

Miu supposed it might be nice if he succeeded. Maybe a few more fighters around would make things a little less dangerous for Kenichi. At the very least, it was always nice to make new friends.

* * *

**Notes:**

First off, let me say that using two different pronouns for the same person is hard. Considering all the mistakes I caught when fixing up my drafts, I figure there must be at least a dozen or so I still missed. So I apologize for those. I prefer having the pronouns match the body, but it's almost enough to make me wish I'd just stuck to the male pronouns whenever I wrote Ranma's point of view.

Anyway, I kind of wish I'd been able to get more interaction between Ranma and the Kenichi cast this chapter, but there will be plenty of that coming up soon. For now, at least I got first impressions out of the way. Oh, and the whole ki training technique was a good way to keep Ranma from just overpowering all the non-masters in the Kenichi universe right from the start, but that doesn't mean I'll be keeping it around for the better part of the story or anything.

It's a story about Ranma though. Chaos, confusion, and misconceptions should be employed liberally, and I intend to do just that.


	3. Getting To Know You

As much as Ranma's mission had been to scout information about Ragnarok, he was surprised to find that Sehrul seemed more interested to hear about Kenichi than he was Berserker. Sure, Kenichi was currently at a much higher level, but Berserker looked to have more potential. Not to mention that Kenichi was already being trained by some serious monsters, so he'd probably be less tempted by any offers. Sehrul did say he was going to investigate Berserker further, but that was almost an afterthought in question after question about Kenichi and how he fought.

With that near obsession, Ranma actually became a little nervous about revealing that he had accepted a challenge against the group Kenichi was in. Sehrul might outright forbid it for some reason the way he was acting. So instead, he merely claimed to have met a couple of people in Ragnarok that would be good practice to fight against. Whether it had been necessary or not, Sehrul was supportive of the plan he'd given in his small fiction.

So Ranma got to work, really cracking down hard on his ki control. It helped quite a bit with how much he could handle right off the bat, at least relative to that tiny trickle that was all he could manage before. Still, there was only so much he could do in a week, and it didn't translate to much at his peak. Where he currently stood, Kenichi looked to be a tough fight.

Then again, he had taken quite a bit of damage, and might not be back in full form in only a week. If he warmed up against someone else first, he might yet make something work. If he still came up short, he'd think of something. He always did.

* * *

Assuming Nijima hadn't lied to him again, the challenge was only a couple of hours from now. Nijima had called the leaders of the Shinpaku Alliance together to go over what he'd discovered about Ranko. Miu had decided to come along as well today, despite not being an official member.

"We didn't get as much as I would have liked," he admitted sullenly. "She doesn't have much of an online profile. Still, there was only one Tendo Ranko in the area that fits our profile, so we were able to pull up a few official records. "

"I hope these records were all legally obtained," Kenichi declared, his tone making it clear just how skeptical he was that such was the case.

"Anyway, she's almost seventeen," he continued, ignoring Kenichi's comment. "Her parents are Tendo Akane and Tendo Ryoga."

"Wait, did you say Tendo Ryoga?" Miu asked suddenly.

"Yes, do you know him?" Nijima asked in response.

"I've only heard of him," she answered. "He's a martial arts master. He came up when a potential student named Saotome Ranma visited the dojo. Supposedly, Ranma was in an arranged marriage with his daughter."

It was surprising to hear of an arranged marriage in this day and age.

"Figures she's already be claimed too," Takeda said with a sign.

"This is good information," Nijima said excitedly scribbling down notes. "Although it does make seducing her a somewhat risky plan. We'll have to save that for a last resort. What else can you tell us?"

"It was only mentioned in the passing," Miu answered. "That's why I didn't know his daughter's name. For all I know, she might not be the one he's engaged to. Ryoga might have another daughter."

"No, she's an only child," Nijima supplied for everyone listening. "Really though, there's nothing else you can tell us? The smallest thing can be helpful."

"Well, there is one thing," Miu replied reluctantly. "Maybe I shouldn't be spreading this, but it seemed Ranma wanted out of the engagement."

"Its hardly surprising," Kisara proclaimed bitterly. "I can't imagine any guy would want to be stuck with her. Why are we even trying to recruit her anyway? The last thing we need is another dairy cow hanging around this place."

"Hey!" Miu protested at Kisara's standard insult against her again being flung out.

"So, what else did you find, Nijima?" Kenichi asked quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation by changing the subject.

"She's participated in a number of martial arts tournaments," he answered. "She's always finished either first or second. Interestingly enough, every second place finish was a loss to the same person, one Kumon Reiko. I have no record of her ever winning against Reiko either. All her first place finishes were when the other girl wasn't participating."

"That Reiko girl sounds like a real monster," Ukita declared. "Maybe we should be trying to recruit her."

"Definitely something worth looking into," he answered. "Ranko might give us an inside track if we can reel her in. Now, does anyone else have anything to add?"

"Only that her fighting style is quite frustrating," Siegfried offered. "It's very refined, and one moment I feel as if I'm about to be inspired, but then she completely changes her rhythm in a flash. It's like when Kenichi was mimicking his masters, only much more frequent."

"So, she knows a lot of different styles?" Kenichi asked curiously.

"Either that or she practices one very unusual one," he answered. "I get the feeling there's some underlying order to movements. A grand symphony hiding amidst a seeming cacophony, but my training is of yet inadequate to decipher it."

"Good, good, now we don't have long before she gets here, what ideas do we have to draw her in?" Nijima inquired.

Given the sparse nature of the information they had, the ideas were somewhat lacking. A few details about the person's life told them little about Ranko herself. What her interests and motivations were. So the what was proposed was little different than the sort of generic suggestions he'd seen in self-help books on making friends. Even those died out after a while, so it was something of a relief when Ranko walked through the door a little before schedule. She was wearing the same outfit he'd last seen her in, or at least one of the same design.

"I know I'm a bit early," she declared as she looked around the room, "so I'm glad to see a good turnout already. Anyway, who wants to go first?"

"There's plenty of time for that later," Nijima told her. "Before that, we were hoping you might have reconsidered our offer to join."

"Che, if that's what this was about, then I'm out of here," Ranko said in annoyance turning to the entrance, but Miu blocked her path before she could go.

"Wait," Miu told her. "You should at least hear what we have to say. I don't know what Yomi is like, but everyone here is great to be around. It's not just about fighting. Ukita, why don't you show her some of your photos?"

"Sure," Ukita agreed readily. "I actually have a few new ones I'm quite proud of."

Kenichi saw that Kisara was doing her best to get herself in position to see the pictures of Ukita's cats as surreptitiously as possible. However, the reaction they got from Ranko when he held the book in front of her could hardly be considered positive. Her eyes instantly widened as she took a stop back as if expecting it to leap out and bite her. Quickly, her hand darted out and snatched the book away from Ukita, ripping the entire thing apart, binder and all, almost faster than Kenichi could follow. Only the smallest shreds of paper were left when she tossed what remained into the air to float to the ground.

"I hate those furry little demons," Ranko declared with a shudder.

"Hey," Ukita protested, sounding more shocked than angry. "Isn't that going a little far?"

Not that Ranko needed any more anger, as Kenichi saw plenty of that directed his way from another source.

"Kenichi, how about we rip her to shreds and see how she likes it?" Miu asked with a bloodthirsty look he almost never saw from her.

Fearing for Ranko's safety, he quickly rushed over to restrain her, realizing his mistake when he saw he'd instinctively gotten behind her in his attempted hold. Miu quickly reversed the grip and flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground. Kenichi had managed to position himself to reduce the damage of his impact, but his not quite healed injuries protested nonetheless. Still, he immediately positioned himself between Miu and Ranko to try to protect the latter.

Even that left another enraged target free to start her own assault on Ranko, as Kisara reacted much as he'd feared Miu would in attacking the red-haired martial artist.

"I don't know why you're the one getting upset," she told Kisara as she dodged around her kicks, "but this is more the sort of meeting I'd hoped for, so whatever."

"Everyone calm down!" Kenichi shouted out, getting through to Kisara enough that she halted her assault, at least temporarily. "I consider myself something of an expert on the subject, so I can recognize a trauma when I see one. I don't believe there was anything malicious in her actions."

"Oh, that's terrible," Miu said so sweetly and full of empathy it was hard to believe this was the same girl who had seemed intent on brutalizing Ranko just moments ago. "You're actually afraid of cats?"

"I'm not afraid of c-c- I'm not afraid of anything," Ranko claimed, not fooling anyone with the lie.

"How did it happen?" Miu asked. "Are you badly allergic or something?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it," she insisted stubbornly. "So just drop it."

While all of this was going on, Nijima had snuck over to where Siegfried was watching the proceedings. "She's proving more resistant to my powers than I anticipated," Nijima told Siegfried. "Go grab some of your cats and have some of the grunts hold them by all the exits. If we keep her trapped in here long enough, I'll eventually be able to turn her."

"Cancel that order!" Miu declared fiercely, having overhead the conversation. "I won't let you use cats for evil!"

Kenichi was sure Ranko would have had to have overheard as well, but looking her way, he saw she was somewhat occupied. Takeda was doing his best to strike up a friendly conversation and convince her of how great the Shinpaku Alliance was while Kisara was going a different direction by employing some very impressive imitations of cat sounds. These looked to be bothering Ranko a great deal, as was certainly their intent. Nijima was quick to put a stop to that at he went back full force trying to manipulate Ranko into joining.

"We're very flexible in what our members do," he informed her. "Show up to meeting only if you want to. As long as you're available when your fighting strength is needed, it's fine with us. Not to mention we have a wide variety of training equipment."

"I already have a master training me," Ranko countered. "That's a lot more effective than any of your equipment would be."

"How about sparring?" Nijima quickly suggested. "You came here wanting a fight, so it must interest you?"

"Sure, but if I want a fight I can always just show up and start one," she pointed out. "I hardly need to join anything for that."

"We offer other services," Nijima added. "Information gathering. Analyzing your enemies. You name it."

"A group of delinquents can do all that?" Ranko asked skeptically. "Why do I get the feeling you'll promise anything if it will get me to join."

Kenichi had yet to see anyone last this long against Nijima's alien manipulations. She'd put up a good fight, but if she didn't run he doubted she'd be able to hold out much longer.

"If you doubt my intentions, at least accept an honorary membership," he pleaded. "You'll get all the benefits with no strings attached. We won't even require you to leave Yomi. Just see what the Shinpaku Alliance is all about and decide from there."

"Fine, I'll take the honorary membership," Ranko said. "At least if it will shut you up so we can get on to the challenge part. I came here itching for a good fight."

"I think it's better to start with the party we have planned to celebrate your joining," Nijima responded. "That way everyone is still in a good enough condition to enjoy it."

"Will there be food at this party?" Ranko inquired, not looking convinced.

"I've had a feast prepared for us," Siegfried answered, clapping his hand loudly as servants started to carry in tray after tray of food.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Ranko said, sounding quite friendly all of a sudden. "Now this is something I'm willing to postpone a fight over."

As the food just kept coming and being piled onto the various tables that had been prepared, Kenichi realized that if anything Siegfried's claim that it was a feast was an understatement. It wasn't just the massive quantity of food that made it so, but as the lids on the trays were lifted, it was revealed that all of the food looked to be very high quality stuff, as if prepared by professional chefs.

Everyone looked eager to dig in, but none more so than Ranko. Although Kenichi never would have guessed that it would have been Miu who was the only person who could give Ranko a run for her money in how intently she was staring at the food.

"Do you think they'll let us take some of the leftovers home?" she asked him. "This much free food would do wonders for Ryozanpaku's budget."

Kenichi should have known. When they started eating Kenichi wasn't certain which was more surprising, the quantity of food Ranko was eating, or how quickly she was devouring it. It was a good thing everyone else was eating at a more reasonable level or there wouldn't have been any leftovers for Miu to try to grab hold of. Ranko did at least pause when they finally got around to properly introducing everyone, as well as to answer any questions she was asked.

"So, are you're really stuck in an arranged marriage?" Takeda inquired, eliciting one of those pauses.

"Yeah, but how do you know about that?" she asked accusingly.

"I told you, we have ways of gathering information," Nijima hurriedly answered before anyone else could say anything.

"For the record, I don't want anything to do with it," Ranko said emphatically. "At least it looks like I might not have to go through with it after all."

"So, is this Ranma part of Yomi too?" Nijima queried, undoubtedly carefully directing the conversation the way he wanted it to go.

"Ranma?" Ranko asked in confusion, but then quickly continued. "Oh, I mean it's surprising you know about the engagement but don't know that. Yeah, we joined Yomi at the same time."

"And is he one of these nine leaders you mentioned before?" Nijima continued prying.

"No, but only because we joined so recently," she claimed. "Ranma is the best there is. If you think I was impressive, you should have seen what he could do. He could have taken on all of Ragnarok and the Shinpaku Alliance at the same time and come out without a scratch."

For someone who claimed not to be interested in the engagement she certainly thought highly of this Ranma guy.

"You're seriously underestimating us if you actually believe that," Kisara challenged.

"Whether or not that's true, he is pretty strong," Miu interjected. "He actually managed to get up a guard in time to block one of Apachai's full strength kicks. He even managed to stick his landing after it had sent him flying."

"Apachai is one of your masters, right?" Ukita questioned him. "If so, you've taken his kicks lots of times right? Nothing terribly special about that."

In reaction Kenichi went stiff as board, holding that position momentarily before going through a full body shiver. "Apachai's kicks are scary," he said simply.

"Oh, Ryozanpaku," Ranko said, snapping her fingers. "That's how you knew about the engagement."

Nijima grumbled at having his source revealed, but Miu didn't even seem to notice the dirty looks he was sending her.

"Actually, that was when we learned he didn't know how to hold back," Miu noted. "It's why we kept him from training you for as long as we did. To give you time to get stronger. It wasn't easy either, he really wanted to help out."

As that sunk in, Kenichi stood up suddenly and turned to face Ranko. "The next time you see Ranma, tell him I'm deeply grateful for his saving my life," he declared, bowing as formally as he could before sitting back down, leaving Ranko looking unsure of how to respond.

He'd been close enough to death when he'd trained with Apachai as it was. If Apachai had tried training him from day one, there was no way he'd have survived.

"So, what martial art do you practice?" Miu asked to break up the awkwardness. "I didn't recognize it."

"It's called Anything Goes," she told them. "It's a pretty rare style with only two small family schools. The Saotome School and the Tendo School. That's why my old man is so hyped up on this marriage. Joining the schools and all that."

That put a small damper on the conversation again, as Kenichi didn't look to be the only one reluctant to tread on such a delicate matter, but Nijima wouldn't let that lull in conversation last long.

"Now that you've joined, how exactly do we reach you?" he asked her.

"I don't think you're going to be able to," Ranko said thoughtfully. "But don't worry. I know where this place is. I'll drop by when I feel like it."

"And what if there's an emergency?" Nijima persisted. "There must be an email address, phone number, physical address, or something you can give us?"

"I don't have either of the first two," Ranko told them. "As for the physical address, I'm staying with my current master, and I'm not really supposed to just be handing his address out."

"You don't even have a phone?" Ukita asked in shock.

"Yeah, what are you, some kind of luddite?" Kisara queried.

"Never had much need for one," she answered simply. "Besides, I don't want you calling me every time your little knitting circle meets. If there's some kind of emergency, I'll probably hear about it, same way I heard about Ragnarok."

"Yes, your Yomi ties," Nijima said a bit bitterly.

"Anyway, I'm about finished here," Ranko said, earning a her more than a few looks from those who couldn't believe she had room for anything else. "So, who wants to have a match?"

"I suggest we defer that to another day," Nijima declared. "It is getting late. Besides, Kenichi isn't quite recovered yet, and the rest of our top fighters couldn't make it."

"Meh," Ranko responded. "I should be upset that you dragged me out here and didn't even give me the fight you promised. Still, the food was a pleasant surprise, so I'll let it slide this time."

Ranko quickly snatched up some additional food and started stuffing it into her pockets to take with her, earning her a disapproving look from Miu, despite the fact that she was stealthily mirroring the actions herself.

"See you guys around," she said with a halfhearted salute as she took off.

"Considering how badly you were trying to butter her up, why didn't you just let her have a sparring match or two?" Kenichi asked Nijima.

"Because she's still a part of Yomi," he answered. "It would make her all the more valuable if she turns, thanks to the intel she could provide. As for now, I don't trust her enough to want to give her a show of our strength. She could easily report it back to the rest of Yomi."

"In that case, isn't it a bit risky to let her hang around at all?" Takeda inquired. "What was all that about an honorary membership?"

"Just a little insurance," he answered, holding up a small device. "I don't know what Yomi's policy regarding betrayal is, but if she won't come over completely, this could prove useful blackmail, or at least sow dissension in their ranks."

Pressing a button, a recording started to play back. " Fine, I'll take the honorary membership," Ranko's voice played back, as Nijima started laughing at his own deceitful actions.

"You really are despicable," Kenichi said, shaking his head.

* * *

Ranma had made sure to find some hot water to turn back before returning to the mansion. When he'd arrived though, he discovered Sehrul was out. It looked as if he'd need to handle his own training for today. Heading to the gym, he started with some basic physical training, letting his mind wander while he did.

The Shinpaku Alliance folk hadn't seemed that bad, even if that weird leader of theirs was a bit pushy. It was a pity he hadn't gotten a proper match with any of them, but he could do that another time. This wasn't the first time Sehrul had ducked out on business, and some sparring to help keep him sharp would be a good use of his time. Especially if they always ate like that.

After he'd worked up a proper sweat, he'd realized that it had been a while since he'd last chatted with Ukyo. Ranma wasn't likely to find a better time to call, so he made his way to one of the house's phones and dialed in the number he'd long since memorized. He heard the phone pick up, but oddly enough, there was only silence on the other end.

"You there, Ucchan?" he asked, wondering if he'd dialed the wrong number.

"Ranma, don't you dare even think about hanging up!" a familiar voice that was definitely not Ukyo's demanded.

"Akane?" he answered in shock. "What are you doing at Ukyo's place?"

"I'm not there," she replied. "Since you refused to call us, Ukyo decided she'd forward calls to her personal phone to me until the next time you called."

"Hey, I was going to get around to it," he complained.

"We've been more than patient," Akane said, "but did you ever think about how we'd feel when you just disappeared again after we finally got you back?"

"I'm in the middle of training," he told her, grasping desperately for an excuse, having not prepared himself for this conversation yet. "And it's not like I haven't been keeping in touch with Ukyo so she could let everyone know I was okay."

"Ranma, I know being the best is important to you, and losing all this time on your rivals drives you crazy, but that doesn't mean you should abandon almost everyone you knew," she told him. "You don't even have to move back. Just stop by for a visit or something. If you like, I can even make sure Ryoga is elsewhere when you visit.

"It's not Ryoga you stupid tomboy!" he yelled out angrily before he even realized what he was doing. He paused himself as the line went silent. Ranma hadn't intended to ever bring this up, but he'd said too much already. Maybe it would be best to just get this off his chest completely. Akane was likely to drag out what he meant anyway after a statement like that.

"You're right it drives me crazy that Ryoga might just have gotten a temporary edge on me," he admitted. "But I can handle that. I'm already in the process of fixing it. That doesn't mean I can't stand to see him. It would probably even help motivate me."

"Then what is it?" Akane asked, as he hesitated again, finding it harder than he'd anticipated to come right out with it.

"It's because … it's … it's you," he admitted weakly. "The strength issue I can fix, but there's nothing I can do that will change the fact that you married someone else."

"Ranma …" Akane said simply, seeming at a loss to say more.

Ranma already regretted saying anything in the first place. He should have just kept quite. Things always just got more complicated and uncomfortable if you started talking about emotions.

"I'm sorry," she finally continued. "I hadn't realized. We never really were very honest with each other, and I just never knew for certain you'd actually thought about me that way."

Ranma was tempted to ask her how she'd felt about him, but he wasn't sure which answer would hurt more. It was probably best not knowing at all.

"Look, I can make the same offer I did for Ryoga," she told him. "I'll go somewhere else for the day, but please at least visit everyone else."

"No, that won't be necessary." Ranma replied. "It was hard at first, but it's been months. I still have the Art, and in some ways it's better just to keep it simple and focus on that. It still felt awkward to call, but I can handle a visit just fine. You don't need to go anywhere. I'll come tomorrow, if that works for you."

It was true too. The healing had come slowly, but even talking to Akane like this didn't hurt as much as he'd feared it was. There might still be a bit of a scar, but it wasn't enough to slow him down anymore.

"Tomorrow would be great," she replied. "Oh, but Ranma, it may be hard to believe, but you don't need to give up completely. I'm sure there's still someone out there for you."

"Meh, I don't need any of that," Ranma insisted. "You just keep Ryoga distracted with all that family life stuff and I'll use the extra free time to show him what a real martial artist can do."

"Whatever you say, Ranma," Akane responded with a sigh. "Anyway, when are you planning to show up?"

"I'll take a train down as soon as I get around tomorrow morning," he answered. "Don't know what the schedule is, but whatever that works out to be."

As reluctant as he'd been to call, Ranma had a lot of stuff he wanted to chat about now that he had Akane on the line, but she actually ended the conversation very shortly thereafter, saying she needed to let everyone else know he would be visiting tomorrow before it got too late. Ranma got in a bit more training that night, but hit the sack soon after, wanting to get an early start. Now that he'd actually made plans to visit, he was getting pretty eager to see everyone again.

Still, he wasn't so excited as to let it interfere with his sleep, as he dozed off quickly and woke refreshed the next morning. Sehrul still wasn't back, so he got himself ready quickly and slipped off without having to worry about explaining where he was going. It wasn't far to the train station, but he did a double take when he got there. That was one bokken wielding idiot he hadn't expected to be waiting there.

"So it is true!" Kuno declared as soon as he spotted him. "The foul sorcerer has returned."

"For the last time, moron, I'm not a sorcerer!" he shouted back.

"How else but sorcery do you explain your youthful visage?" he spat back. "What, has the pigtailed girl you enslaved grown too old for your tastes? So now you crawl out of your hidden lair in search of new maidens to bring under your vile control?"

Hmm, yeah, his current appearance might be hard to explain to someone as delusional as Kuno. Normally he'd just beat him even more senseless rather than have to deal with him, but that might be a problem at the moment. Even weakened as he was, he was sure he could still take the old Kuno. The question was, how did this Kuno compare to the one he knew? Maybe it would be best to avoid the risk and try to distract him instead.

"So, what have you been up to these days, Kuno?" he asked, as he casually made his way toward a train that was sitting in the station.

If he stalled Kuno long enough, he could hop on it just as it was taking off and escape him. He wasn't sure if it was the one he wanted or not, but he could sort that out after the fact.

"I have taken over my father's old job," he answered, simplemindedly taking the bait. "I seek to undo the damage his corruption caused over the years."

"Well, I'm sure you make a much better principle than he did," Ranma told him, and at least partially meant it.

Even as bad as Kuno was, he'd have much rather had him in charge than his father. Meanwhile, Ranma had made it to where he was standing with his back to the train. Now if it would just hurry up and take off, everything would be fine.

"You seek to distract me while you make your escape," Kuno suddenly declared. "I shall not allow it!"

Figures he would choose this moment to finally get an ounce of perception. Preparing himself, Ranma was still barely able to dodge out of the way before the wooden bokken slashed through where he'd just been standing. In a way, Ranma was relieved. If that's all he had, then he'd certainly improved a lot, but he wasn't some super powered master.

Ranma didn't know if he could handle it if even Kuno had gotten that good. On the other hand, with his speed being limited as it was, he was only able to dodge that because it had been a straight strike from quite a distance away. In close range, he wouldn't have enough time. Even worse, he saw that the strike had torn a long vertical slash through the side of the train, tearing right through the metal.

"What are you doing?" he protested. "You could have hurt someone inside the train."

Thankfully, it didn't look like the cut had gone deep enough to do that. There were a lot of people beginning to panic nearby, but no sign of actual injuries. Still, Ranma didn't want to see what a strike like that would do to him. It might be in his best interest to start looking for some cold water so the pig-tailed girl could make an appearance.

"Stop right there. You're under arrest!" a police officer shouted, while he and his two companions ran up to Kuno.

"I have done nothing wrong!" Kuno complained. "I am merely attempting to smite this villainous cur."

"Resisting arrest doesn't sound terribly noble," Ranma needled. "And what kind of example would you be setting for your students?"

The anger on Kuno's face was priceless, but he did lower his weapon.

"Very well," he declared. "But this only delays your day of reckoning."

"I'm quaking in my boots," Ranma deadpanned.

"You'll need to come with us as well," one of the officers told him before he could walk off.

"What?" Ranma protested. "He was the one who attacked me."

"We'll still need to take you in until we can sort this out," he insisted.

"If he resists I can subdue him for you," Kuno offered hopefully.

"Don't bother. I'll go," he grumbled, holding out his wrists and letting them cuff him as well.

He was actually a bit surprised to see the police taking such an active role. He'd remembered incidents with them back from his days traveling with his father, but he guessed he was just used to Nerima. For whatever reason, the police there had never stuck their noses into martial arts fights no matter how crazy they got. It was a short walk to the station, even if it didn't seem that way with Kuno's constant ranting. Thankfully, they separated the two of them once they were inside. Taking Ranma into a private room, one of the officers, a gruff looking middle-aged man followed him in and began to question him.

"What's your name, kid?" the man asked.

"Saotome Ranma," he answered simply, deciding that with the police involved, it might be best to stay polite and cooperative for once.

"Got any ID on you?" he followed up, but before Ranma could answer another officer walked in carrying a phone.

"Sir," he interrupted. "We have a woman on the line who claims to be his lawyer. She wants to speak to her client alone."

"Already breathing down our necks?" he complained. "I can't stand lawyers."

"What should we do, sir?" the younger officer asked.

"Just go along with it," he answered. "It'll only be more trouble for us if we don't."

Nodding, his subordinate handed him the phone, before the two of them walked out and shut the door behind them.

"Hello?" he asked, wondering just who it was claiming to be his lawyer.

"Hey there, Ranma," the woman replied. "It's been quite some time since we've been able to chat like this."

It took him a moment, but he was pretty sure he knew who that voice was.

"Nabiki?" he asked.

"Got it in one," she replied cheerfully. "Now I do apologize for sending Kuno after you, but since you haven't exactly made yourself easy to reach, it was the best I could come up with on short notice to make sure I intercepted you before you got to Nerima."

"Wait, you sent Kuno after me?" he said in shock. "He was seriously trying to kill me."

"Are you saying the great Saotome Ranma couldn't even handle dealing with Kuno for a bit?" she mocked. "Besides, I tipped off the police in advance to make sure they put a stop to things before they got too out of hand."

"Couldn't you have just sent the police to arrest me outright?" Ranma grumbled.

"It's not like I have enough control over the police that I can just tell them to arrest you for nothing," she replied. "At least not in this district."

From the tone of her voice he couldn't quite tell if that last bit had been a joke or not.

"Putting that aside, it's time to get down to business," she continued. "You've gotten involved with Yami, and I need you to get out ASAP."

"What?" Ranma questioned. "How do you even know about that?"

"Whatever my company officially does, information is still my primary business," she explained. "Now I don't know how they suckered you into their ranks, but Yami is serious bad news. Assassinations, blackmail, intimidation tactics to take control of entire governments. You name it, and they've probably done it and worse."

"Okay, I admit that sounds pretty bad, but I've trained with some fairly nasty people before," he pointed out. "If I just accept their training and don't help them out with anything, what's wrong with that? I'm wasting their time if anything."

"Look, you want a master, I'll help you find a master," Nabiki offered. "Know this, though: Yami doesn't like to let go of things. Right now you're just a name in a database. The organization seems to know almost nothing about you. You may be able to get out safely, and I'll do whatever I can to help out with that on my end, but the longer you stay, and the deeper you became entangled, the harder it will be to get you out alive."

"You make them sound really bad, but the only two I've really ever dealt with seem decent enough," Ranma said, feeling like he had to defend them. "Tell me, what has Sehrul done that's so terrible?"

"Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "But if anything that worries me more. It may just be that my network isn't very developed in India, but it bothers me not knowing things. Still, even if he is one of the few halfway decent ones, it's too dangerous to stay. So stop arguing and do what I tell you. It's in your own best interest. If you haven't misjudged him, maybe he'll even let you go peacefully."

Ranma admitted she was starting to worry him a bit. He didn't particularly like being associated with anything as bad as she made Yami sound. Still, he'd always said he was willing to risk his life for the Art. Besides, Nabiki wasn't the most trustworthy source. She said she'd help him find a master. For all he knew, she was just trying to scare him away to get him in her own pocket. Well, it wasn't like he could leave now, whatever she said.

"I can't just leave," he explained to Nabiki. "He's got me in this weird pressure point technique for training, and I have no clue how to remove it."

"You know nothing about him and you just let him use it on you?" Nabiki said, and he could clearly hear the exasperation in her voice. "Despite your experiences with those techniques? No, don't answer that. You'll do whatever stupid thing someone suggests if they tell you it's training. At least see if Cologne can help you with it."

"Thanks for the warning," Ranma told her, "but Sehrul really seems to know what he's doing, and I want to keep training under him. I'll be extra careful not to let him do anything 'evil' but I haven't seen him so much as be rude to someone, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Fine, you want to ignore my advice and risk your own life, be my guest," Nabiki spat out. "But let me get one thing clear. As long as you're involved with Yami, I don't want you visiting my family. I don't want you calling them. I don't want you associating with anyone they know. I don't even want you so much as mentioning they exist."

"I'll talk to whoever I want to," Ranma practically shouted in the phone.

"This isn't a punishment, Ranma," she told him. "I'm not kidding when I said these people are dangerous. When you do find out what they're like and decide not to cooperate with them, they may just decide to take hostages to make you listen to them. They could even make an example of one or two just to prove they're serious. You can risk your own life, but I won't have you risking theirs. I've already erased any records linking you to them. Hopefully you haven't already done something stupid and made all that work pointless."

That thought brought him up short. Could she be serious about that?

"Look, I'll get you out of the jail, and handle the excuses back home," she promised him. "I'll make sure it's something that will keep them from blaming you for the lack of contact. Just please, don't let your stubbornness get in the way of whatever sense you have. At least think about what I said. I really am trying to look out for you."

At that moment the door cracked open and the younger officer from before peaked in. "You done in here?" he asked, just as Ranma heard the line go dead.

"Yeah, just finished," he answered.

"Good, because we're letting you go," he told Ranma. "Some of the accounts didn't make sense, but all the witnesses we've interviewed agreed you didn't do anything. So we don't have anything to hold you for."

"Great," Ranma said, as the officer came up and uncuffed him.

Ranma quickly made his way out of the station and back to Yami's mansion. Despite his earlier protests, he was seriously considering Nabiki's words. On the one hand, Nabiki had given him less reasons to trust her over the course of Ranma's life than Sehrul had. On the other hand, if even half of what Nabiki had said was true, Yami was not something to be taking lightly. At the very least, he couldn't risk anyone else's life over it. He'd have to do what Nabiki said.

For that matter, he was really kicking himself now over the whole Tendo Ranko thing with the Shinpaku guys. Thanks to that, he was probably best off avoiding them completely, especially with how much interest Sehrul at least had in Kenichi. If Ranko never made another appearance he could hope she would fade from their minds and not be brought up. Pity, because he really had been hoping to show up again and get in some practice.

He'd keep his eyes and ears open back in the headquarters too, but he wasn't quite willing to give up his training just yet. Sehrul actually returned the next day, bringing Ethan with him. To his surprise, Ethan actually stuck around this time and continued his own training. That proved to be a mixed blessing. It meant less personal training, but a sparring partner who actually had some skill.

In fact, Ranma hadn't yet gotten back up to the point where he could fight evenly with Ethan, so it was an annoying reversal of their old fights. Still, they were only sparring, and considering his situation, certainly none of their matches would actually count as a loss. Of course there was also the benefit of just having someone else to talk to, even if Ethan wasn't the most naturally talkative of people.

Ranma soon discovered that there was a purpose for Ethan's renewed training, beyond simply improving himself. There was an international under twenty tournament coming up, and he was going to be entering. Of course, once Ethan had let that slip, Ranma was determined he was going to get in as well. A chance to test his new training and prove himself against some of the best fighters his age that the world had to offer? He was all over that.

Sehrul had been reluctant at first to let him go, especially as he wasn't personally involved with it. Apparently Ethan was only going because his sister's master was running it and she'd wanted to bring him along. It was a bit of a surprise to only now learn he had a sister, but then again, it's not as if Ranma had been been open about all of his personal life either. It turned out he'd be more than just learning she existed. Once he wore Sehrul down and got him to get Ranma a spot, he only then learned that it was a team tournament, and he'd be on a team with the Stanley siblings.

Not exactly an ideal format, but hey, a good old fashion group brawl could be fun too. The excitement from the tournament was even enough to all but drive away his worries over Yami and being cut off from his old friends and family. He kept his senses enough to watch for any signs Sehrul or Ethan were something other than what they appeared, but if they were, they were doing a good job of hiding it.

Finally, the day did come for them to depart. Even with everything he'd already seen, Ranma was still a bit blown away by what that involved. Sehrul accompanied Ethan and him on a private jet as they flew to the island where the DofD would be taking place. And what an impressive site the island turned out to be. Even from above he could tell it put the Kuno home to shame. Seeing it from the ground only made it more impressive.

Ranma didn't know much about art, but he was sure the stuff all over this place wasn't cheap. And the number of servants was mind-boggling. Ranma was still looking around wide-eyed when a blonde girl wearing an extremely revealing outfit that did nothing to hide a figure that could easily compete with even Shampoo's approached them. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say that half the skin she was covering was on her face, behind a mask that she wore.

"Ethan, there you are," she said upon seeing them. "And I take it this is person your master dragged us into taking along with us?"

So, this must be Rachel Stanley. The disapproving look she was giving as she sized him up didn't exactly make a good first impression with him, but it just meant he'd have to prove she shouldn't underestimate him. Ranma looked back over his shoulder to try to get a gauge on Sehrul's thoughts on this, but found he'd already vanished somewhere.

"I see that neither of you have a proper costume," she complained, turning to Ranma. "At least you actually look like your going for some kind of Chinese theme, but the execution is seriously lacking. It's far too plain."

"Sorry," Ethan said simply, not looking at all like he actually was.

"I thought this might happen, so I at least brought some spare masks you can use," Rachel declared, holding them out to them, not that he had any idea where she'd been keeping them. "At least it's better than nothing."

Ethan took one without protest and pulled it over his face. Ranma looked at the remaining mask skeptically. He didn't really see the point in wearing it, and it would probably just look silly. He was about to say as much when he spotted Kenichi and Miu walking into the same large room Ranma's group was currently standing in.

"Give me that," Ranma said, quickly snatching it up and putting it on. He was surprised to see them here, but it could cause problems. They knew of his connection to Tendos, and Ranma didn't want that advertised in case Nabiki was right.

"A little better," Rachel declared, looking the pair over. "I'll be fighting under the name Castor with my brother as Pollux. Have you come up with your own stage name yet?"

"Didn't think to, but maybe I should go do that," Ranma said nervously, as he eyed the masters of Ryozanpaku following the pair in.

Hardly trusting the mask to be enough to hide his identity, Ranma dashed out of the room without waiting for a reply. He hadn't the slightest idea where to go, but that proved to be no problem at all. There were servants all over the place and they were happy to lead him to his room. Being told the tournament wasn't until the morning, Ranma barely spent the time to ogle all the expensive furniture and knickknacks before diving into the oversized bed and passing out for the night.

Ranma woke early and got in a bit of a warmup, before washing himself in his room's private bathroom and dressing for the match. Ranma put on the mask, but he hadn't really brought anything else that would make a proper costume. He considered for a moment backing out of the tournament, but quickly brushed the thought aside. If they recognized him and decided for some reason to talk about his connection to the Tendos, and someone from Yami overheard, and they were as bad as Nabiki claimed, then maybe he'd be putting them at risk.

Even so, if Ryoga was as tough as everyone said he was, he should be able to take care of them just fine. As long as Ranma avoided meeting up with them directly, they shouldn't have any reason to talk about that at all, so it really wasn't even much of a risk. Certainly not one worth missing out on the tournament for. Of course seeing as he was still under the effect of those pressure points, it's not as if he'd be able to go all out in this tournament. Then again, especially with help, it would probably be boring otherwise.

Ethan had been confident he and his sister could win the tournament easily by themselves, and with Rachel's master running the show, he should know the state of the competition. Well, it should be good training if nothing else. He should stop thinking so much and just enjoy the opportunity to fight a variety of styles from all over the world. Now, if he just knew where and when the tournament would be starting.

He wasn't left wondering for long, as a knock on the door turned out to be a maid who had been sent to fetch him. He found himself being led to a large arena where he saw a fight was already in progress. The real surprise was that one of the teams was those Shinpaku Alliance folks. It looked like Kenichi and Miu weren't the only ones who had shown up. They had some new faces as well. A big sumo guy who at least had some skill, and it looked as if they'd dragged Freya along for the ride.

Watching her fight the other team's leader, it was clear Freya had been training hard since their last match. Thanks largely to her, the Shinpaku Alliance won without too much difficulty. Sadly, that didn't say much for the level of the competition. Sure, they might have made for some interesting matches back when Ranma was training in China, or even shortly after he'd arrived in Nerima. As it was, they'd get blown away by Ethan alone, even if his sister wasn't any good. Hopefully some of the other teams were a little higher level.

He didn't have to wait long to find one that might be. The next match was between a New York Street Fighter team and a single figure simply introduced as the Unknown Fighter. A good description seeing as they were wearing a large cloak and mask that completely obscured who they were. All five were allowed to fight the single figure at once, but that wasn't nearly enough for them.

All their attacks were dodged with ease until their opponent grew bored, finishing all five of them with a speed that told Ranma there might be at least one interesting fight in the tournament. He was curious to find out more, but the robed figure left the arena as soon as the fight was over. Ranma was tempted to follow, but their team was called for the next fight. So instead, he made his way down to where he saw Rachel and Ethan waiting. He could only hope their own opponents would be just as interesting.

* * *

Kenichi's confidence had been bolstered slightly by the Shinpaku Alliance's victory. He'd thought maybe the other fighters weren't so bad. That had all come crashing down when he watched that single fighter demolish the entire team from New York. Now, the team from Yomi was up, he was afraid the three of them were only going to add to his unease. He recognized two of them from the underground fighting arena, but he had no idea who the third was. Miu, however, seemed to be staring at him quite intently.

"Wait a minute," Miu she said from next to him. "Isn't that Ranma?"

"It appears so," the Elder answered. "He really has gotten involved with Yomi. If he's that type of person, I suppose we were fortunate he didn't join Ryozanpaku."

Based on the story Miu had told him, it was pretty obvious that the man was just fishing for an excuse to make up for his poor handling of that situation. He was just considering pointing that out when Apachai jumped into the conversation.

"How does he switch back and forth like that?" he asked, pointing at Ranma.

"What are you talking about?" Sakaki asked him, mirroring Kenichi's own confusion.

"Oh, I see," the Elder declared. "I'm surprised you noticed before I did, Apachai. That's quite the curse he has."

"Curse, what curse?" Kenichi asked. "Is there something wrong with Ranma?"

Could Ranma be ill or something?

"Curse?" Kensei, asked. "You wouldn't by any chance mean Jusenkyo, would you?"

"Ah, Jusenkyo," Akisame added with a nod. "I've heard of it, and it certainly would explain a great deal."

"What's this Jusenkyo thing all about?" Sakaki inquired.

"Tell me," Shigure added.

"Apachai wants to know!" said man threw in as well.

"Aren't you the one who figured it out in the first place?" Kenichi protested, but only got a blank look from him in response.

Seeing the rest of the masters gathering around the Elder, Kenichi moved to do the same, but the man in question brought up a hand, ordering him to stop.

"This is a private matter for the boy, and not something to be discussed openly," he declared.

"And yet you're going to tell all of them?" Kenichi complained, pointing out the small circle around the man.

"Let it go Kenichi," Miu told him gently. "I'm curious too, but you're not going to change his mind. Besides, Jusenkyo might be enough to look up what it is later."

Despite her words, Kenichi really didn't want to forget about it, especially with the shocked look on Sakaki's face. He was a little curious as to why no one from the Shinpaku Alliance was getting involved in the conversation, but realized it was likely because the fight had already started while he'd been distracted. The female members of each team were fighting one on one, and Kenichi had directed his attention toward the match just in time for a wonderful sight. The girl from Yomi, known as Castor, had ripped off the top from her opponent, leaving her breasts completely exposed.

Kenichi stared wide-eyed for just a moment before Miu's fingers came up and poked him harshly in the eyes. Clutching them in pain, he still considered it worth it. Thankfully he recovered quick enough to see Castor defeat her opponent, only to lose her own top and reveal a much more magnificent bounty. The second assault from Miu against his eyes was a small price to pay for that show. He even recovered quickly enough to see the end of the match, although he kind of wished he hadn't.

The moment the fallen girl's teammate stepped into the ring to help her, Pollux descended on him and beat him into unconsciousness in a most brutal manner. The two of them were definitely scary, and he hadn't even got a chance to see their third member, who Kenichi noticed was already leaving the arena. If Ranma was as strong as they were, that was going to be a very dangerous match. He only hoped he was strong enough to protect Miu from them.

* * *

Rachel was furious. Her brother had totally ruined the mood she'd built up, and that boy they'd been forced to bring with them had disappeared without doing anything.

"Where did Ranma run off to anyway?" she asked her still cowering brother.

"He said he was going to look for the winner of the previous match," he answered. "To try to figure out more about them."

Well, that wasn't really any matter, but she had to find some way to warm the crowd up again. Calling out for her master's mic she prepared to do just that, only to see that her target, Shirahama Kenichi, was completely ignoring her. This only added to her anger as she marched over the small group that was chatting away in order to hear just what they considered more important than her.

"So that Ranma is the one Ranko is engaged to?" a tall silver-haired boy asked Kenichi.

"I believe so," he answered. "It's my first time meeting him though."

Rachel's anger flared again briefly that Ranma would be drawing the attention away from her, but she quickly calmed herself when she realized this might not be so bad. At least he seemed a natural at exciting the crowd, unlike her brother. She could use this build up even more drama. Of course she'd attach herself to the matter to ensure she was still the center of attention.

"Oh, so you know Ranko?" she asked, speaking into the microphone. "Then I'd like you to take a message to her for me. Tell her that I've stolen her fiance away from her."

"I don't know if she'll care," Kenichi answered as Rachel held the mic up to him to ensure everyone could hear his reply. "She says she doesn't even want to be engaged to him."

Rachel cursed inwardly at that. But she was trained to improvise, and she might still be able to salvage this.

"She says that, but the truth is that she's madly in love with him," she declared. "So much so, that when she learned he'd fallen for someone else, she pretended to want out of the engagement herself just so he wouldn't feel guilty."

"She did speak rather highly of him for someone she claimed not to care about," Kenichi admitted thoughtfully.

Perfect. He was buying it. Now to really throw in the dramatic flare.

"You know what the most amusing part is though?" she asked. "I don't even care for Ranma. I deliberately won his affections for the sole purpose of making Ranko as miserable as possible. Now I want her to know that it was I who did it."

"You monster!" the girl who was Kenichi's partner in this tournament cried out. "I won't forgive you for toying with their hearts like that! Just wait until we tell him what you said."

There were numerous jeers and cries of rage from the crowd as well. This was working as well as she'd hoped it would.

"He's fallen for me so hard that even if he believed you he wouldn't give up his pursuit," she claimed. "I'll make you a deal, though. Defeat me in the tournament and I'll break up with him myself. However, if you lose, I'll personally send Ranko as many photos as I can of the two of us as a happy couple."

"You're on," the blonde girl answered.

"Then do your best not to lose until our own match," Rachel said, turning with a flourish as she made her exit. That should add some extra tension to their match.

* * *

Sakaki was sitting around a table with the other masters of Ryozanpaku, lounging around after the first day of the tournament had finished. They'd managed to chase off all the servants so they could talk in private. He was quite excited by the prospect of taking on whatever defenses this Fortuna guy had hired and causing a bit of havoc.

He'd just known Jenny couldn't have been working for a guy like that. It was a pity he'd had to miss Kenichi's fight to discover that fact, but he'd have other fights, and the rest of the group had just filled him in on what he'd missed. Kenichi was now safely resting and should be recovered enough from his wounds for when the tournament started back up tomorrow. Sounds like those three kids from China had put a good fight, but he was more interested in what the Elder was up to.

"One thing confuses me, Apachai," he said said, deciding to address this matter first. "You're the one who figured out Ranma and Ranko were the same person. So how come you couldn't tell that Garyu X was the Elder?"

"But he wasn't," Apachai answered. "The Elder was with us the whole time."

"See," he answered. "Apachai has advanced his Dou style to the point where he has an animal like instinct he trusts over his own senses to identify people. It gives him a certainty that we're two different people."

Sakaki frowned at this, not buying it for a minute.

"Of course, supposing I had wanted to disguise myself as a twenty year old fighter," the man continued. "In that case, I would have disguised my aura in a way that would fool even Apachai. I could even project my own aura into another object so that Apachai would believe that to be me."

So that was his game.

"And yet you couldn't bother with a proper costume to fool everyone else in the audience?" Akisame mused.

"In this entirely hypothetical situation, I suppose that I might have spent the money I'd been intending to use on a costume on that really neat watch Garyu X had," he answered.

"And just how much money did you spend on that thing?" Kensei asked him accusingly.

The Elder was saved from answering the question when Sakaki sensed a figure behind him. Turning around, he saw a dark-haired man in a white robe with oversized sleeves. He was surprised the man had gotten so close to them without being sensed.

"Who are you?" the Elder asked him.

"My name is Mousse," he answered. "And I'm with the Weapons Division of Yami. I came because I overheard Sakaki here discussing his plans to help the Americans invade this island."

"I didn't sense you," Shizune admitted, probably much more appalled by that failure than her tone was letting on.

"I did my best to ensure you wouldn't," he answered a little smugly.

"And now you're going to try to stop us?" Sakaki asked, preparing himself for a brawl. If things got ugly he wanted to get in a few good blows before the rest of them finished the fool off.

"Not at all," he answered. "We could hardly care less what happens to Fortuna or anyone else on the island. I do, however, have an interest in seeing the tournament completed without interruption. So I'm here to make a deal. Go back to your friend and convince her to hold off the attack until after the DofD has concluded and we'll get out of your hair and let you do your thing unhindered."

"Apachai thinks we should just take you all out if you get in our way," Apachai announced.

"You could probably do it at that," Mousse replied, not seeming at all offended. "I know I'd hate to fight the Invincible Superman. Nevertheless, Fortuna has hired a number of masters in addition to a small private army to defend him. Add in myself and two of Yami's Nine Fists and it might be difficult to keep all those poor kids safe in the process."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Akisame asked, getting a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"Take it however you want," Mousse told him. "It needn't even be an issue. What harm is there in waiting? Do so, and I promise you Sehrul and I won't trouble you in the least."

"And what about the Laughing Fist?" Sakaki asked, noticing he'd left that name out.

"The man is a wild card," he admitted. "I can't claim to know what his next move will be. I doubt even he knows half the time. Still, I have no reason to believe he'd have motivation to harm anyone. Regardless, you still get quite the deal for delaying no more than a day or two."

"Fine," Sakaki agreed. "I'll talk to Jenny and see what I can do. But if you go back on your word I'll personally see that you regret it."

"Good, then I see no reason to bother you further," he answered, as he backed out the door and disappeared.

Yami really did have to be annoying. Still, he actually preferred the tournament finished anyway, and now he had an excuse to ask Jenny to let it. It just bothered him to have to go along with Yami. If the guy wanted the tournament to finish, there was a probably a good reason why it shouldn't. Oh well. If so, they'd just do what they always did and handle it when it came up.

* * *

Ranma hadn't been able to find his target, but he was glad he hadn't wasted too much time looking, as several of the fights had been worth watching. That office worker who had taken on the body building team while talking on the phone looked as exciting a prospect as the robed figure. And that stupid old man had snuck his way into the tournament to fight off that other old guy. Now that had been an exciting match.

The bald guy was extremely skilled, but he'd been taken down as if swatting a fly. He may not like the guy, but the blond geezer was certainly an extremely formidable fighter. He doubted Cologne could have taken the bald guy out half so easily if she used every Joketsuzoku trick in the book. Ranma just hoped that was the only reason he'd joined the tournament and he'd be dropping out now. Ranma intended to win this thing.

Even Kenichi's fight had been worth watching. The boy had obviously improved greatly, but the bigger surprise was that Miu was the much more dangerous of the pair. He may need to talk to Sehrul about undoing his technique. His team might still be good enough to win this thing, but if there were any opponents who could push him, he'd rather face them at full strength. For now though, he'd gotten another good night of rest and it was time to find his team. Thanks to the servants, he managed to locate them before he even got to the arena.

"So, you have a fiancee?" Rachel asked him as soon as he walked up to pair.

"What? Where did you hear that?" Ranma asked in surprise.

"From that Kenichi boy," she answered. "Some girl named Ranko, from what I'm told. I was hoping you might be able to tell me a little bit about her."

He should have known that his luck wouldn't let him keep any secrets. Well, he'd better hope Nabiki was wrong about them. Anyway, it didn't look like there was much point in hiding his identity now that it was out in the open. And seeing as Ethan was no longer wearing his mask, Ranma removed his own. It had been bugging him anyway.

"Not much to tell, I've hardly met her," Ranma replied. "And we're not actually engaged. My father wanted an arranged marriage, but her parents shot it down. Which suits me just fine. I don't exactly want to marry someone I don't even know. I may have to straighten out the Shinpaku Alliance guys at some point."

"Worry about that after the tournament," Rachel said sharply, confusing him a bit in how forcefully she responded. Ethan for his part was doing his best not to look Ranma in the eye. "Anyway, from what I hear, there aren't that many of them left to straighten out."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I mean that Kano Sho got in a fight with them last night and left all their best fighters in the hospital," she answered.

"Kano Sho?" Ranma asked, still in a bit of shock at the announcement "Who is that?"

"What? My brother didn't even tell you that much?" she asked, looking at Ethan accusingly.

"It didn't seem important," he said with a shrug.

"Well, Sho is the current leader of Yomi," she answered. "As annoying as it is, we're supposed to follow his orders."

"Why did he do it? Are they alright?" he asked in rapid succession.

"It's not like I know the details," she replied. "Honestly, I don't even know why Sho is here since he's not participating. As far as I've heard, he didn't kill anyone, but they won't be in any condition to fight. Pity, because they would have made for an entertaining match, but it's unlikely they'll even get passed the next round now."

None of that sat well with Ranma. It was a dirty move to take out the team outside the tournament. Based on the other teams he'd seen, he doubted they'd have gotten very far anyway, but they at least deserved a chance. He wished he could do something about it, but he was certainly no doctor, so there weren't really any options available.

Actually, that might not be entirely true. There was one thing he could do.

* * *

Kenichi felt really bad for his friends. He may not think much of Nijima, but the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance didn't deserve to be taken out so soon. Now Nijima was actually talking about withdrawing from the tournament completely. With Takeda, Thor, and Freya out, he couldn't blame him for making that call. Kenichi really wanted a chance to make Sho pay for his actions.

"We can't drop out," Kisara complained. "I'm still fine. Just let me handle it."

"I'm sorry," he replied. "If team sizes were only three instead of five I'd consider it, but there's simply no way you can take on the entire Capoeira team by yourself."

"What about me?" Ukita complained at having his own potential contributions ignored.

"There's nothing to gain by continuing," Nijima explained. "The only logical course of action is to drop out."

"I'd wouldn't be so quick to give up," a new voice added from behind them.

"Ranko," Kenichi said in surprise when he spotted the girl. "What are you doing here?"

"Duh, I'm with Yomi," she explained. "Considering who's running this thing, is it really that shocking I'd be here?"

"So why are you only showing up now?" Kenichi asked her a little suspiciously. He hadn't exactly had a lot of good dealings with Yomi.

"I heard about what happened last night," she answered. "It looks like you're short a few team members. Well, it's you're lucky day. I wasn't actually involved in the tournament, so I figured I'd help you out. I am an honorary member, right?"

"Hah, forget what I said about withdrawing," Nijima announced with a huge smile. "This completely changes the equation. We now have a real chance of winning this match. So let's get out there and make a name for ourselves!"

* * *

**Notes:**

First off, for anyone who checked back looking for that updated bonus rant I promised in the last chapter, I apologize. I only recently noticed that I'd only saved an edit to the document and never actually replaced the chapter. As long as it's been since the last update I decided to just move it here so people wouldn't miss it.

Before that, I do want to at least mention that I won't be following the Kenichi plot as closely as I currently am terribly long. It's a good way to focus more on character development and getting the characters from the two universes interacting, but I have plans for more original plot that I'll be branching out into shortly.

And don't take Nabiki's order as a thinly veiled excuse to cut out the Ranma characters all but completely. I'm hoping Mousse made this clear, but I intend to keep a number of them very involved. Anyway, on to the bonus.

**Bonus:**

This mini rant is about the character in Ranma I think is most strongly misconstrued in English fanfiction. Other characters are sometimes off just as badly or worse, but none are done so such an overwhelmingly large majority of the time. Nodoka Saotome occasionally gets proper treatment, but it's so rare it's practically worth making a big deal about it every time it happens.

It's certainly understandable how it happens. She has such a minor role in the anime that many have simply relied on fanfiction itself for impressions of her. Even then, it mostly comes down to a misinterpretation of one very key scene.

Nodoka's views on manliness are one of the key parts that are off. Nowhere in the manga are you given reason to believe that she promotes perversion or wants Ranma sleeping around and pursuing as many women as he can. She's even shown herself to be repulsed by perverts. The part this whole notion came from is almost certainly when she was pleased to see Ranma peeking on Akane.

This is not because she supports the action itself, but because the alternative is so terrifying to her. Due to typical Ranma craziness, she'd been given reason to believe that Ranma may have become quite girly in mind as well as body. This is more along the lines of a mother being happy to hear her son had been arrested for robbery because there'd been a horrible accident on the news she'd feared he'd been one of the casualties of when she couldn't reach him. Lesser of two evils.

Which also brings up the fact that she's not the type who would casually force him to commit seppuku as a matter of course. She was desperately looking for an excuse to get out of it with honor intact. We don't even know for certain whether she would have chosen honor over his life if she felt the pact had not been kept.

This isn't a rant against those who write her out of canon character, as I understand completely why so many have a false interpretation of her. I simply hope to educate as many people as possible so that maybe a few more stories will actually portray her properly.


	4. A Fierce Clash

Kenichi was glad the Shinpaku Alliance wasn't going to withdraw, even if he still didn't fully trust Ranko's sudden decision to help them out. Then again, if she'd overheard what Castor had said in their match, she might have decided to join for that reason. After all, she would have a strong motivation to see Castor defeated thanks to that wager she'd made.

"I'm glad we got some extra help," Nijima declared suddenly. "I only wish it had been Hermit or Siegfried instead."

"Why would you say that?" Ranko asked dangerously.

"Don't take it the wrong way," he replied, "It's simply that with Kenichi on his own team, they're the strongest options we have remaining."

"As if," Ranko protested. "You should count your lucky stars it was me."

"You're certainly good," Nijima agreed, "but having seen all of you fight, I have to place them higher. Don't worry though, you're probably in the top five or six."

"Top five or six?" she shouted back, almost choking on her words. "Just who else do you think could actually match me in a fight?"

"Me for one," Kisara cut in. "Freya for another."

"I already beat Freya quite easily, if you recall," Ranko fired back.

"You only won because of a dirty trick," Kisara countered. "And all of us are way better than when you last showed your face."

"Don't think I've just been sitting on my rear doing nothing," Ranko snarled. "I'd be happy to prove my point right here if you'd like."

"Now, now. Calm down," Nijima declared, stepping between them. "I admit my estimates may not be perfect, but we'll all see soon enough who really is stronger."

"You got that right," Ranko agreed, heading off to the arena. "I'll wipe their whole team out before you even realize the match has started. _Probably in the top five or six._ What a crock."

"Just don't expect me to come to your rescue when you get in over your head," Kisara sniped back as she followed the other girl.

"That went even better than I expected," Nijima boasted once they were out of earshot. "I actually managed to get both of them fired up."

Kenichi should have known that's what he had been up to. Realizing the rest of his team was gone, Ukita went to follow after them but Nijima blocked his path.

"Don't fight them head on," Nijima warned him. "Try to distract the other team as much as you can. Keep them on the toes and unable to gang up on the other two, but fight defensively and stay out of their range as much as you can. I don't care if you have to turn your back and run from them the whole fight, just stay in it as long as you can manage."

"I may not be as strong as the others, but I can do more than that," Ukita complained.

"Don't be a fool," Nijima replied. "You're outnumbered five to three and thanks to this tournament structure, we haven't seen them fight yet. If you're taken out then that leaves more of them to gang up on Kisara. My strategy is the best thing you can do to protect her."

It was pretty rough that the Shinpaku Alliance and the team they'd beaten in their first match were the only teams that had an extra match in the tournament bracket that had recently been revealed. Still, they had pretty much forced their way into the tournament and in doing so bumped it up from 16 to 17 teams, so it was probably only fair. Back to the matter at hand, Nijima's words seemed to have gotten through to Ukita, as he finally agreed to his plan and continued on to join the rest of his team. One thing he could say about Nijima, his powers of manipulation were quite real.

* * *

Ranma was still steamed from Nijima's lack of faith in her abilities, so she was impatient for the match to start. Just when Ukita finally joined them, and she was sure they were going to begin, a commotion started above as air defenses began firing at a plane overhead. Ranma was still trying to figure out what was going on, and if they were in any danger when the plane was hit, starting a rapid descent as it was covered in flames. However, she'd noticed that the pilot had bailed out right before the explosion, and was now falling rapidly toward the ground.

As the figure neared, Ranma recognized him as Siegfried. It really was quite the entrance as he avoided another round of missiles being fire at him, released his parachute late enough that he still touched down in the arena with a rather jarring velocity, and rolled forward into a pose, all without so much as losing his hat.

"What are you even doing here?" Kisara cried out in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be training in Tibet?"

Everyone else seemed to be getting a little too worked up. Sure the entrance was flashy and all, but he'd wager the only reason no one he knew had tried it yet was that none of them owned their own private jets. Well, maybe the Kunos did, but still.

"That's our fourth member!" Nijima declared pointing to Siegfried, being the one of the few other people to actually keep his head.

"I don't fully understand what's going on, but if commander wishes it, I will gladly help out," he declared.

"I'll allow it," Diego ruled from up on his perch, although Ranko almost wished he'd take a harder stance for once. She wanted to prove she was the best, and the more people who helped, the less impressive the win would be.

"Then let me just see what we're up against. Nijima Scan!" Nijima declared, as he stared blankly at the five members of the Capoeira team while a couple of antenna sprouted from his head. That was certainly an odd looking technique. Ranko wondered how exactly it worked.

"Is he really human?" Kisara asked.

"Lately I'm not so sure," Ukita remarked.

"He's the leader," Nijima informed them, pointing to the one shirtless member of the team.

Not even letting them continue, Ranma charged the person he'd indicated. Rachel's master didn't seem the type to get upset by such an action, and she wanted to make sure she was the one to take out the top dog. A flash of movement barely gave her enough warning as she halted in her tracks and leaned back to avoid a spin kick delivered when her opponent dropped to the ground and used his arms to twist his body into the attack.

She cursed a bit that she'd been forced to rely on her instincts instead of continuing her training of only using moves she'd planned out. Then again, she was quite sick of that training anyway. Sehrul might talk a good talk, but trying to do it his way was nothing but a huge handicap in any fight and she'd yet to see the slightest hint that might change. Anyway, as she defended against a couple more kicks it was clear that she didn't have any other options.

Her three companions had rushed in after her and distracted the other four members of the team, but the leader had about as much of a speed advantage over her as Berserker had when she'd fought him. Unlike Berserker, however, this guy knew what he was doing. Still, she wasn't going to let that intimidate her; she'd find a way to win. At least as soon as she could get close enough for an attack of her own.

He was quite a bit larger than Ranma's girl form, and was good at using the range of his legs to maximum effect. And with the speed and ferocity of his attacks, she hadn't yet found a way to grab his attacking leg itself. So far his defense had been impenetrable, and the same couldn't be said for her own. Oh she'd avoided any clean hits, but some of her blocks had been a little less than ideal, and she was already sporting a few bruises on her arms. Nothing that would slow her of course, but they gave solid proof of how this fight was going so far.

She tried a few taunts to hope to make him angry, but that proved about as effective as when she used them against Ethan. She was almost starting to miss the gang back in Nerima. If nothing else she could always count on her ability to get them riled up.

A cry from nearby drew her attention to where a body had just hit the floor next to Siegfried, joining one of his companions as both of them stood unmoving.

"That's two down already!" Nijima called out with glee from the sideline. "The new Siegfried truly is unstoppable. We can win the whole tournament like this!"

"Wrong," Siegfried replied simply. "I've been searching for you for three days without rest. I'm sorry, but I'm at my limit. I need to sleep."

Saying so, he immediately fell flat on his back, not moving any more than the two he'd defeated. Ranma was grateful for that small favor. She'd come out determined to prove herself the superior fighter and here was this jerk showing her up by taking out two of them before she'd so much as landed a hit on her own opponent. She could still save some face though, considering she'd gone for the leader.

Beating him shouldn't be too hard either. She could fight defensively until she wore herself out enough to get better control over her ki. She might catch the occasional mistake from him too, because let's face it, she was the best. Even so, that wasn't good enough for her. Kisara and Ukita looked to be losing, if anything, as they worked together against the team's sole girl and the last standing guy other than the leader. If they did pull out a victory, though, she just wouldn't be able to stand having them come to her aid to finish off the last guy.

No, this had to be her victory alone, and she wanted it as quickly as possible. The question was, how was she going to achieve that? Once again she wished she hadn't wasted time on Sehrul's stupid strategy training. If she'd focused instead on building up her strengths, it might have given her the edge she needed. Maybe if he'd at least told her how she was supposed to combine strategy and instincts she could make use of the training.

If it were just for watching for tricks her opponents might be using, that was going to be a huge letdown, because it would be useless against straightforward fighters, which seemed to make up the lion's share of her enemies. Then again, if there was a trick, she should just figure it out herself instead of getting worked up over not knowing it. Maybe she could use her instincts to figure out how her opponent would react to an attack and plan around that. It was a good idea, but now she needed to figure out how to go about doing it.

Maybe if she pictured herself defending against the attack she planned to use. Of course there was the issue that they used two very different styles. But if she imagined herself under some weird curse that limited her to using the kick heavy Capoeira style, maybe she could make it work. Okay now, if she tried to dart to the left just outside his range before charging in, how would he react? Picturing the scenario in her mind, she got an answer and decided to put it to the test.

Just as she'd expected, the moment she changed course toward him, her opponent lashed out with a kick coming from her right. The timing, the angle, everything was almost exactly as she'd predicted. Having planned in advance for just such a reaction, she was able to duck down and deflect the kick over her. Still, she'd been too unsure it would work and had waited to confirm that was his actual reaction before moving, so she'd been able to do little more than defend against it. She needed more confidence if she really wanted to catch him off guard.

Having seen it work on its very first try gave her more than enough confidence to go all in this time. Repeating the same procedure from last bout, even as she was deflecting the blow she pressed forward again, but only for an instant before turning sharply to her right. As she'd expected, his left leg was following behind his right in a second attack as she dropped down on his hands and continued his spin.

Thanks to her accurate prediction, she was able to reach the leg before it got much velocity, latch onto it, and use her own momentum to twist into a throw that slammed him into the ground. He'd braced himself to avoid any serious damage, but that couldn't have felt good. Releasing his leg, she dashed toward her fallen foe, as her continued experimenting with this new technique predicted he would roll back away from her, yanking the leg free in the process. Doing so, she could keep him from getting the space he wanted.

This time, however, she was wrong, as he instead pushed off the ground back toward her in an attempted counter-attack. His positioning was poor for such an attack, which was why she hadn't expected him to do it. Maybe she'd shaken him, but such a decision was clearly a mistake and would have allowed her to get in a devastating hit while his defenses were down. Unfortunately, she'd already committed to her current action, and wasn't in a position to take advantage of it.

Her quick reaction spared her from falling victim to his assault, and their mutual surprise left neither in position to do any damage as they brushed past each other with no significant contact. That had been dangerous, though. It shouldn't be too surprising she couldn't perfectly predict his attacks, and it was only luck that she hadn't really been forced to pay more than a missed opportunity for it this time. That said, if she was right more often than she was wrong, it could still be a fair trade off in the end, and there might still be ways to stack the odds more in her favor.

Even if her old man had mostly intended her to use it in looking for potential dirty tricks to play, Ranma had long been trained to think at lightning pace during battle, and she wasn't yet pushing her limits on that front. Before she started her next attack, she predicted his two most likely responses and came up a plan that would work well against either of them. Their next few exchanges proved that she was really onto something even if they hadn't gone quite as perfectly as she'd hoped.

So as the fight progressed she experimented further with her mixed instinct/strategy plan, trying a number of different variations, such as comparing more than one possible attack or playing out the fight a few moves in advance. Slowly she started to refine her system according to what tended to work best. Now she really was pushing her mental limits, but she strained to get in as much as she could while she fought without losing her focus on the fight itself.

And she was more than pleased with the results. Oh she made her share of mistakes and paid for them in close calls, bruises, and one particularly bad kick that wouldn't have needed too much more force to give her a concussion. Nevertheless, as she fine-tuned the process, got more comfortable using it, and learned more of his fighting style, the match was quickly turning overwhelmingly in her favor. Her exertion hadn't even done much to close the gap in their speed yet, and she was still giving five blows for every one she got.

The damage was beginning to take its toll on him too, and seeing him dazed from her latest slip through his defenses, she figured it was time to go in for the kill. Deciding to add a little insult to injury, she used one of his own moves that she'd liked the look of and nailed him with a kick right to the side of the head that sent him down hard and left him out cold. Taking pride in a job well done, she figured it was time to turn her attention back to the other two and save their hides. It'd be hard for Kisara to mouth off after that.

She was going to offer to do just that, but her jaw clenched shut when she saw Kisara fighting. She'd completely changed her style which now bore a quite unpleasant resemblance to a cat. For a moment she wondered if Kisara had been trained in the neko-ken as well, but it only took that long to realize that she was still in her right mind. This was simple mimicry. Although why anyone would choose to mimic _that _animal was beyond her.

Whatever crazy reasoning she had, it actually appeared to be working for her, as she was now winning her fight with ease. A solid kick put the female fighter in much the same state as Ranma had just left her team's leader, a fact that didn't sit at all well with the one remaining member.

"Aisha!" he cried out in shock, running toward his downed teammate.

He should have known better than to lose his focus on the fight, though, as Ukita took advantage of this immediately, grabbing the man from behind, lifting him over his head, and throwing him out of the ring and into the water below, ending the match.

"Took you long enough, considering you were handling the small fries," Ranma told them.

"Only because I didn't use my Nyakwando until the end," she fired back. "You saw how quickly I took them out with it."

"I think you just caught her off-guard because she couldn't believe how ridiculous you looked," Ranma joked, not willing to admit the moves had been pretty good for someone on her level.

"You're just jealous I have such an amazing style all of my own," Kisara replied smugly.

"What? You think I couldn't do that?" Ranma asked. "Believe me, if you ever see me acting like one of those … _things_, you'd be smart to run the other way as fast as you can."

Diego cut their argument short with an announcement, which was unfortunate, because it was just starting to get fun.

"And that brings a close to our first full round," he declared. "Only eight teams remain. So let's not waste any time starting the next round. Our first match will be the Ryozanpaku Alliance versus the Unknown Fighter."

"What?!" Kenichi immediately protested loud enough for the entire audience to hear. "That's not fair! They just finished fighting."

"It's a new round," the master of Lucha Libre responded. "I can run the matches in any order I want."

"That's true, but you should consider delaying our match," Nijima cut in. "You wouldn't want the audience to miss out on as entertaining a fighter as Siegfried, would you?"

"It's not my fault if you don't bother to get enough rest before the match," he responded without sympathy. "My decision stands."

"Don't worry," Ranma assured them. "I can handle this."

Dirty decision or not, jumping right into the next fight only helped her. What few small injuries she had were more than made up for with the extra control over her ki she had thanks to having already depleted some of it.

"_We'll _be fine," Kisara added, emphasizing the first word. "With my Nyakwando, we'll be unstoppable. It's three against one, anyway."

That one she was referring to had now made his way into the ring, just as some servants finished clearing away the Capoeira team. He was wearing a long hooded black robe, gloves, and a mask that looked about as cheap as the old man from Ryozanpaku's. All in all, it didn't leave an inch of skin visible. What was it with contestants wearing disguises in this tournament anyway? At least this one didn't leave it completely obvious to everyone just who they were.

"What is with the getup anyway?" Ranma asked him, but received only silence in reply.

"Not very talkative are you?" Ukita noted.

Their opponent again failed to respond, this time getting into a stance that looked like a standard one from karate. Their oh so fair referee was probably just going to let them start whenever they felt like it again, so Ranma decided she would jump right in. The guy had been fast in the last fight, possibly even faster than leader of the Capoeira fight, so she'd just test his defenses a bit with a feint to get a feel for how he'd react.

Sprinting toward the masked figure, she jumped back just before she crossed into his range, hoping to get a response. She certainly got that, as the guy surged after her far faster than she'd prepared for and threw a fist her way. She managed to block it with her left forearm, but she hadn't had enough time to get in a proper defense and the awkward nature of it sent a shock of pain through her shoulder.

She probably would have been in for a lot worse than that if Kisara hadn't distracted him with an attack of her own. Ranma tested her shoulder as Kisara was rewarded for her efforts with a roundhouse kick to her side that sent her tumbling away from their foe until Ukita caught her to stop her momentum. She was relieved that it was nothing more than a mild sprain and wouldn't really interfere with her fight.

This was going to be a tough one though. The guy had been holding back in his last fight. He was way faster than any of the losers from Capoeira team. Oddly enough though, his skill didn't seem anywhere near the same level as his strength and speed. She'd been right that it was karate, but the moves were the sort of basic stuff that an average black belt would know. As long as he wasn't just holding back, she might be able to take advantage of that.

"Ukita, Kisara, let's take him at the same time," she ordered, having learned from her previous attempt not to go it alone.

They must have realized how serious the situation was, because Kisara didn't even give her any lip about the order. She was worried Mask Guy would charge one of them before they got the chance considering Ranma was pretty much on opposite ends from the other two. Whether it was overconfidence, preferring to fight to defensively, or just not wanting to turn his back on any of them, though, he was kind enough to stay put.

Ranma slowed just a hair shortly before coming into range, hoping to direct his attention at Kisara and Ukita first. Not that she wished even Kisara any ill will, she just figured she had the best chance of winning this for them, and having a distracted target would only help. This worked great, and what's more, the relatively simple style the guy was employing made predicting his moves fairly easy, so Ranma was already in motion to take advantage of the weakest point in his defense and hopefully end this with one well-placed blow to the back of the neck.

Unfortunately, she'd underestimated just how good the guy's reaction time was as he knocked Ukita and Kisara away before using that speed of his to spin around fast enough to smash into Ranma with the side of his arm before she could land her own blow. Frustrated that this guy was outdoing her so significantly, she tried desperately to get some sort of counter in before the force of the attack took her out of range, but the guy wouldn't even let her do that much as he moved further away from her.

Out of pure spite, she just barely managed to grab a fold of the cloak between two of her fingers, squeezing tightly and pulling the cloth toward her until she had a solid fistful of it. Her own momentum did the rest of the work as the material proved to not be strong enough to stop her completely as it tore loose. The whole thing came free, even knocking the mask off with it. Her brief moment of triumph was cut short as she realized she recognized the person wearing the simple green t-shirt and blue pants underneath the cloak.

"Reiko!" she called out in shock having no clue what Shampoo's daughter was doing there.

This fight just went from difficult to all but unwinnable. Still, she was at least going to try to come up with something. The cloak had slowed her enough to make for an easy landing, and she quickly made her way over to where her two companions were picking themselves back up.

"This just go a whole lot harder," she informed them. "If you have any bright ideas I'm all ears."

"What, the great Tendo Ranko doesn't have a single idea of her own?" Kisara mocked.

Ranma ignored the taunt, instead using the reprieve Reiko, for whatever reason, was giving them to run through as many scenarios as possible. But every fight she played out in her head ended up with them on the losing end.

"Maybe we can trick her somehow?" she suggested. "Or I don't know, blackmail her into giving up. That's not really my thing, but I'm drawing a blank on how we can win this in a fair fight."

"There's three of us and only one of her," Kisara protested. "Surely we can manage something."

"Sorry, but I was actually including sleeping beauty over their getting back up to help us and even then I don't see a way out of this," Ranma replied, pointing to where Siegfried still lay just a few feet away.

"It can't really be all that bad," Ukita argued.

"You should listen to your friend there," Reiko cut in. "Since I was trying to keep my identity a secret from my target, I avoided using my real style. Now that the cat's out of the bag, there's not really any point to holding back. So we may as well get this over with."

Punctuating her words, Reiko went on the offensive for the first time. Not planning to stand around and wait for her, Ranma dashed over to Siegfried, lifted the prone form, and tossed him at Reiko. The purple-haired martial artist simply batted him away, letting him bounce a couple of times without even waking up. Ranma was treated to much the same as she was knocked aside with little more apparent effort than the guy who wasn't even conscious. She obviously hadn't been sitting on her rear all this time. She was even better than he remembered her.

"What was that all about?" Kisara cried out angrily. "How could you do that to Siegfried?"

"I was hoping that would wake him up," Ranma answered. "Or that he'd at least be able to get in one of his counters during his sleep or something."

"Fighting in his sleep?" Kisara complained. "Like he could do something like that."

"It's really not that hard to learn," Ranma told her, confused as to why she thought the idea so odd.

Anyway, Kisara should have been paying more attention to the fight instead of arguing with her over her choice of attacks, as Reiko wasn't content to simply let them stand around talking this time. In a flash she was between Ukita and Kisara, grabbing the two of them and throwing them out of the ring before they had so much as a chance to cry out in surprise. Twin splashes left no doubt as to the fact that Ranma was now alone in this match.

The girl in question then turned on Ranma, sprinting toward her, no doubt intending to do the same thing to her. Ranma tried to put up a defense, but even having managed to predict how she would attempt to break through it, she just didn't have enough speed to do anything to prevent it. Although one surprise was that rather than simply knock her out of the ring, the taller girl grabbed the front of her shirt and hoisted her into the air, walking over to the edge of the arena and holding her over it.

"A girl going by Tendo Ranko who uses Anything Goes and recognizes me by sight?" Reiko mused softly enough that nobody but the two of them would be able to hear it. "I don't know what you're up to, but seeing as I have other things on my mind, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for the moment. I warn you though, if you're working on anything underhanded, you should probably stop now. I'm here for Ranma, but I won't ignore this indefinitely."

Her words only confused Ranma. Ranko he could understand, but surely Shampoo and Cologne wouldn't let Reiko hold onto to any silly delusions about curses not being real. How was it she couldn't figure out who Ranma was? Shouldn't she have seen some old photos or something?

Having said her piece, Reiko released her hand, intending to drop her, but Ranma used the opportunity to make one last ditch effort as she grabbed the outstretched arm and swung her legs over in an attempt to tangle them with Reiko's. At the very least maybe she could take the other girl with her. Sadly, that wasn't to be, as she simply swung her arm over to the side to throw off her aim, then thrust her arm downward with enough force that Ranma lost her grip and began falling toward the water.

For a moment she instinctively panicked before she remembered that she was already in her cursed form. Calming down she dived gracefully into the cold water then changed course and swam up with enough force to fly out of the moat and land back on the spectator's side of the chasm. Finding Sehrul in the stands, she locked eyes with him and gave him a look that she wanted to speak with him. Hoping he got the message, she went for one of the exits, entering an empty hall to find the man in question already waiting for her there as he tossed her a bottle.

"Thanks," she said as soon as she realized it contained hot water. She then opened it and dumped it over her head turning back to her male form. "Now I need you to undo that pressure point thing."

"I understand you don't like losing," he answered, "but it may not be in your best interest to show off your full strength in such a public venue."

"Like I care," he snapped. "It's about time I see if this training is working, and she's the perfect test of my skills. Now if you don't undo it, I'll see if I can't figure out a way to do it myself."

Despite the lessons he had received in pressure points, that might not go too well. Which didn't change the fact that he wasn't bluffing. He wasn't going to let Reiko walk all over him as she'd just done when they had the rematch he assumed she was here for. At least he hoped that's why she'd shown up. If Shampoo and Cologne had convinced her to marry him, he'd have much bigger worries than the outcome of their match.

"Very well," Sehrul agreed, having been mulling it over all this time. "I suppose I can't very well keep you hidden forever."

Ranma rewarded him with a huge smile as the tall man's hand dashed out and began pressing point after point that Ranma did his best to memorize. Even before he'd finished, the relief washed over Ranma. Not having to fight his own ki anymore was such a weight off of him that his whole body relaxed itself as if he'd just gotten into a hot bath.

Quickly, he tested a moving a little chakra as if preparing for a Moko Takabisha and was delighted with how easy it was to manipulate the flow. He'd spent a good bit of time thinking of things he wanted to try when he was done with that training. And with the bracket showing he still had one more fight before he met up with Reiko, he had the perfect opportunity to test some of them out. Now, he just needed to change quickly and get back out there for his next match.

* * *

"So that was Reiko, huh?" Ukita declared sullenly, still dripping water from where he'd climbed out. "It's no wonder Ranko could never beat her. How can anyone be so monstrously strong?"

Kenichi wasn't as surprised by that, the girl still not being able to hold a candle against his masters. Nevertheless, he could see a dark mood descended over the gathered Shinpaku Alliance members.

"Don't be so down," he told them. "You won two matches in an international tournament. How many people can say that?"

"Yes, it will help our fame greatly," Nijima admitted, being the one person among them who had never seemed that depressed to begin with. But nothing compared to when Kenichi here wins the tournament."

"What?!" he cried out in surprise. "How am I supposed to win against someone like Reiko when I don't even hit girls? Or someone like that?"

He pointed to where the solo member of the team known as Tenchi Mushin Ryu was taking on the whole Mongolian Bufu team as easily as Reiko had just taken out the Shinpaku Alliance.

"Don't worry, Kenichi," Miu assured him. "I'll be here to help you, and we can take them together."

With Miu it might just be possible, but that didn't sit well with him. He wanted to protect Miu, not depend on her to win his fights. Still, given the Elder's promise of letting him date Miu if he won the tournament, he would swallow his pride if it just let him come out victorius.

"Besides, we have to win this, for Ranko's sake," Miu declared firmly.

"Where did Ranko go, anyway?" Kenichi asked, not having seen her since she'd jumped her way out of the moat in spectacular fashion.

"Probably slunk off with her tail between her legs after the beating she just got," Kisara suggested, ignoring the fact that she'd received the very same beating.

"We don't have time to worry about that right now, anyway," Nijima told them. "Looks like the Yomi team is about to fight."

Sure enough, the three member team was walking toward the arena. Ranma had ditched his mask since the last match, and rather than simply stay in the back, he was moving resolutely toward the center. The high tech arena had not been set up like a wrestling stage this time, instead being left a plain circle with the usual moat on the outside.

"Looks like we finally get to see their last member in action," Nijima said happily. "So let's watch closely and see if we can find any weaknesses."

"He can't be as bad as the other two, right?" Ukita asked. "I mean Ranko said he wasn't one of Yomi's leaders."

She'd also said that was only because he'd recently joined, but Kenichi hoped that was just her giving a biased account of his strength. Either way, he'd find out soon enough.

* * *

Ranma leaped into the arena, watching the Pankration team walk across the small bridge over the moat to enter, wearing that weird armor from something out of ancient times. Unfortunately, Rachel and Ethan leaped over behind him.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked. "I already have a plan for this fight, and this isn't it."

The five members of the Pankration team barely looked like they'd be enough of a challenge to get any decent practice out of if he fought them alone. If his own teammates decided to interfere, it would hardly be worth anything. Unless … they were trying to stop him instead of helping him. Yes, this would be perfect.

"I'm going to be fighting you two more than I am them," he told his teammates, loud enough that the Pankration team would be able to hear. "If you want to come out of this in one piece, you probably ought to help them."

"Huh? Is this some kind of joke?" Rachel asked, but Ethan on the other hand was already taking a defensive stance against him.

"I assume our master has removed the pressure point technique you were under?" he asked.

"Yeap, I'm feeling better than ever," Ranma replied cheerfully.

"Then I suggest we do what he says," Ethan told his sister. "We have little hope of winning against him if we don't work together."

"He's really that strong?" Rachel asked in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling," one of Pankration fighters exclaimed. "But don't expect to fool us."

They could think what they wanted; Ranma wasn't trying to fool anyone. Thankfully, his teammates believed him and were already moving together trying to get him in a pincher attack. Ranma easily evaded both attacks, relishing having his old speed back again. But he couldn't simply stand for returning to old form. The point was to improve, so it was time to test that out a bit. And he'd start by taking a page from a Joketsuzoku technique.

Getting his ki to move exactly as he wanted proved even simpler than he anticipated, and starting with his right arm, he carefully forced some of it into the muscles throughout his arm and hand. Ki naturally enhanced muscles as it flowed through the body, and the main principle behind the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken was to force more ki than would naturally flow there into the arm, enhancing it even further.

Even with that, however, it primarily aided muscles close to major ki pathways, particularly the biceps, and triceps. Great for speed punching, but muscles further down the arm and into the wrists and hand got much less of a speed boost. Now, he was able to force his ki equally in every muscle throughout his arm. This might not seem like much, but to a skilled martial artist, being able to twist your wrist faster or better manipulate your fingers at high speed was a fairly significant difference.

Even more, he was now skilled enough to keep his muscles supercharged without losing control, continuing the technique as long as liked. Testing out a few of his more dexterous Amaguriken punches to block a few blows, he extended the technique to his other arm. And skeptical of their honesty or not, the Pankration team was now converging on Ranma as well, so he started enhancing the ki in his legs next, using the enhanced speed to dance around all seven other fighters at a faster pace than he'd ever used before.

Soon enough, every muscle in his body had been powered up, and Ranma couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so exhilarated. He now basically had a full body Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken that he could keep running as long as he liked. This made him far more dangerous than he'd ever been before. He was laughing in his head at the notion that it would take him a decade to catch up to Ryoga. This just proved how fast he could improve himself when he put his mind to it.

For now though, he needed to get more practice with his new technique. Get his mind used to the higher speeds his body could put out so he could properly wield his newfound strength. So for the most part he simply danced around his opponents toying with them. Tripping a few up. A couple of harmless throws. Mostly though, he just got practice. He may have been sending a few more attacks Ethan's way, but then he almost felt he had to do that after the way all their sparring matches had gone since he'd started Sehrul's training.

Yeah, Reiko better prepare herself, because this was a whole new Saotome Ranma.

* * *

Kenichi was quickly spiraling into a state of depression upon seeing Ranma practically toying with his own teammates in addition to the entire Pankration team.

"Everyone left is a monster," he declared sullenly, before turning sharply to the Elder. "And we have the worst one of all in our next match."

"Relax," Nijima told him. "The old man only joined to deal with that bald master. I'm sure he'll just resign without even fighting you. And either Reiko or Ranma is going to be eliminated before meeting up with you. With any luck, the winner will be too injured to put up much of a fight. You might only have one real match left in the entire tournament."

That did cheer him up a little. Still, all three of the other teams scared him.

"So why is he fighting his own team?" Kenichi asked curiously.

"Do you think maybe he found out about what Castor is up to and got angry with them?" Miu asked hopefully.

"I'm pretty sure he's just doing it for training," the Elder answered. "The Reiko fight must have got him riled up, and now he's trying to prepare himself for their match."

"Isn't it a bit late to do something like that?" Ukita asked. "He'll just tire himself out."

"Not at all," the Elder replied. "Even under normal circumstances one can improve significantly in a single match. Even more so for him as he's just finished some rather unusual training. He's growing by leaps and bounds even as we speak."

"What training is that?" Miu inquired. "And how do you know about it?"

"They were talking about it earlier," Sakaki answered. "You guys really need to step up your training if you couldn't tell yourself."

Kenichi wondered just how he was supposed to overhear a conversation on the arena floor from way out in the stands. Although it was a small comfort that Miu hadn't been able to catch it either. He didn't need another reminder of how much behind her he still was.

"Speaking of that training," Akisame cut in, directing his question at Kensei. "Are you familiar with what he was referring to? I'm wondering if it's something we could use on Kenichi."

"I'm not familiar with the technique itself," he admitted. "But I have some idea of what was probably done, and I might be able to recreate it. Still, as he is now, I doubt Kenichi would survive it. Then again, if we're careful, maybe we can work something out."

Kenichi didn't like the way that conversation was going, but that was a concern for another day. He had plenty to worry about right in front of his eyes as the battle continued.

* * *

Ranma was really starting to get the hang of his new ki enhancement technique, which was quite a relief. When he fought Reiko, he'd need as much of his attention as possible devoted to predicting her moves, so this had to be all but second nature. He was already starting to mix both of his new abilities together, and if he just dragged this fight out a little longer, he should have that working smoothly enough for his next match.

The way this was going too, he could draw it out as long as he pleased. He'd taken a couple of glancing blows early on, but as he got better control over his abilities, it was getting to the point where none of them had any real hope of hitting him unless he let them.

The Pankration team even looked to be getting more and more wary of him. Two of the guys and one of the girls had gotten themselves in a good flanking position, but were holding back as if afraid to get close. He was almost starting to wonder if they were up to something, but in the end, it wouldn't matter if they were. He could handle whatever they came up with, and the last two of their friends must be even more scared, as they weren't even in any position to move against him if they wanted to.

Besides, Rachel and Ethan were the larger threats, and both of them were heading in for another futile attack. He was just mocking the exchange in his mind to determine how best to deal with it when he saw motion that caught him completely by surprise. The final two members of the Pankration team, the guy who'd been barking out orders the whole time and the other girl, were just making their presence known again.

It was now very clear why those two had been avoiding Ranma. It was because he wasn't their target; Rachel was. Distracted as he'd been, he'd noticed too late to stop them, as she was sandwiched between their fists that each landed on one side of her rib cage. While she was still in shock from that hit, the leader had already twisted around behind her and placed a second blow to the back of her head that sent Rachel toppling forward.

Bursting into motion, Ranma caught her before she could hit the ground. The girl who had assaulted Rachel had been continuing her own part of the combination while her leader got in the second attack and was already closing in on Ranma hoping to take advantage of him while he was distracted, no doubt. Ranma rewarded her with a sharp kick to the forehead that laid her flat, carefully holding Rachel as still as he could in the process so as not to aggravate any potential injuries. Sounds behind him reminded him of the other three members of their team, who must have been waiting for just this moment.

They might have even succeeded in their plan and caught him unaware if Ethan hadn't already waylaid the three of them quite brutally. It was only expected that he wouldn't like their treatment of his sister any more than Ranma did. He looked down at Rachel again just in time to see her coughing up blood.

"I'm afraid my injuries might be just a bit serious," she said, struggling to keep the mood light.

"Why did you betray her like that?" Ranma demanded of the leader and only member of the Pankration team still standing.

"Betray her?" he replied. "I'd like to remind you that you were the one attacking your own teammate, not me."

"Don't play games with me," Ranma snapped. "I warned her exactly what I planned. I didn't just stab her in the back like you did."

"I do regret it came to that," the teen told him, getting a very resigned look in his eye. "Nevertheless, winning was too important to let that hold us back. It had quickly become clear that a ploy like that was our only hope of winning."

"See that she gets medical attention," Ranma told Ethan, passing his sister over to him and then cracking his knuckles. "I'm going to teach him that however important winning is, there are some things you just don't do."

* * *

Fortuna watched the scene from his control room with excitement. This tournament was going even better than he'd hoped for.

"There's simply so much young talent here," he said into the microphone that would cause the robot posing as him to speak. "That Ranma boy may be the most exciting prospect yet."

"Don't forget that Yami already holds claim over him," the Fist of Brahman declared from where he and his fellow member of the Nine Fists sat near his robotic impersonator.

"I would of course be willing to offer a sizable compensation package if you were to hand him over to me," Fortuna told him hopefully.

He'd love to have the boy, even if he might be slightly on the gullible side. He showed no sign of having caught on to the fake blood Castor had used for her little coughing fit.

"I'm afraid I must still decline," was the reply he received.

"Pity," Fortuna declared, but forcibly cheered himself. "Nevertheless, even without him, there are plenty of others who have caught my eye. Why I doubt I'll miss my children at all once they've been punished for that embarrassing show they just put on."

"Allow me to take care of them for you," a new voice added. "I've been getting bored simply watching fights."

Glancing at some of the other monitors, he identified the speaker as the Yomi brat, Kano Sho. The one that had shown up despite his lack of participation in the tournament.

"As long as you understand that my punishment is rather final in nature, that's fine with me," he answered.

Fortuna was actually curious if the boy could take out all his former children even if some of them were no longer in the best of condition. If he was, it just further emphasized how Yami seemed to scoop up all the good talent for themselves. He'd just have to lay claim to these new children that had caught his eye before Yami could.

"They won't trouble you again," Sho promised, walking off.

It was a shame they only had one more match before they completed the second day of the event, and one that was unlikely to be exciting at that. He'd live though, as the final three matches tomorrow were sure to get his blood boiling. He wondered who would win in the end.

* * *

Figuring he'd just be in the way of the doctors anyway, Ranma stayed behind to watch the next match. It proved quite effective at keeping his mind off of Rachel's injuries too, as the old man hadn't just given up. At least not right away. He had some really fancy moves he was showing off too, even if he was holding back to train them. Still, he might be getting a little too carried away at that. The training itself was fine, but Kenichi didn't look like he'd be in much shape to continue the tournament if he kept this up much longer.

Eventually though, 'Garyu X' got caught as not being qualified in an under 20 tournament, having put down his age as 20. With that over, they declared an end to the day's matches with the final three concluding tomorrow. No longer having a reason to stick around, Ranma decided to go check on Rachel, since he did feel at least partially responsible for what had happened to her.

Getting directed to the medical wing, Ranma quickly located Rachel amid the other wounded from the tournament. She was lying there in a hospital gown with oxygen mask over her face. Almost as soon as she'd seen him, however, she ripped it off.

"I'm glad you came," she declared enthusiastically. "I'm told it was a little dicey for a while, but it looks like I'll pull through. If I push myself, I think I might even be able to help out in the next match."

He wished she didn't have to be so loud in her greeting. Everyone else in the room was now staring at the pair of them.

"Don't worry about that," he told her. "You just rest up."

"But I couldn't possibly let you and my brother fight without me," she all but wailed, turning several of the looks quite dirty as she continued to make a ruckus in the middle of the medical area. "You saw how strong that girl was."

"I plan to fight without your brother either," he answered. "That's one fight I have to do alone."

This claim seemed to have caught her interest, but rather than argue, she actually looked excited.

"So who is she?" Rachel asked in a whisper, finally keeping the volume down. "Lover? Jealous ex-girlfriend? I hope it's something good."

"Nothing like that," Ranma insisted. "Let's just say it's a point of pride that I have to win this."

"Don't be so stingy," she complained quietly before raising her voice again. "Fine if you insist I'll leave it to you. Just be careful. I don't want to see you injured."

"And the fight better be exciting, or you'll pay for it later" she barked out in a hushed tone right after her first statement, leaving him confused.

"Well, I'll let you get some rest," he told her, turning and heading out of the wing as he tried to puzzle out just what the blonde girl was thinking.

Why'd he have to always run into the crazy chicks anyway?

* * *

Miu had been helping Kenichi back to the medical wing where Kensei and Akisame were going to try to get him recovered as much as possible in time for tomorrow's fights. What she wasn't expecting was to see Ranma already there talking with an injured Castor. The girl was laying it on thick with talk of wanting to help him despite her injuries and not wanting to see him hurt too.

The depressing thing was, with how angry Ranma had become when she'd been injured, and with him already down here watching over her, it looked like Castor may have been telling the truth about his feelings for her. Even if Miu told him what Castor was really up to, he might not believe her. Worse still, if he thought Ranko had put her up to it, she might do more harm than good. That didn't mean she wasn't going to just leave it be. Instead she waited outside the door for Ranma to finish up, and stepped into his path as soon as he'd left.

"You may be in for a bit of a shock in the near future," Miu told him. "But if so, I want you to remember that what you've been looking for might have been right there with you all along."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Ranma asked in bewilderment.

She supposed that was a little too vague, but she just wasn't very good at this.

"I can't say too much," she tried again. "But let me at least tell you this. If you do lose this tournament, it might just end up to be the best thing that ever happened to you."

"Well, not much chance of that," Ranma replied. "Seeing as I don't plan on losing."

Miu was determined to see that he did, for his own sake as well as Ranko's. Hopefully he'd remember her words when that time came. Until then, there was another topic she needed to discuss with him.

"You and Ranko both seem like good people to me," she told him. "I think you would be better off leaving Yomi."

"Don't you start on me with that too, now" Ranma complained. "I did get thrown out of your dojo before I sought out my current master, after all. So you can hardly complain that I did."

"I'm sorry about that, but it was just a misunderstanding," Miu told him, blushing a bit at being reminded of that event. "You see, my grandfather was just trying to trick you into a paying a larger fee for the training, and it kind of didn't work out as he'd planned. If you came back I'm sure they'd be willing to train you as well."

"Oh, is that all," Ranma replied, cheering up considerably. "I should have known they wouldn't actually want me gone."

"So you'll leave Yomi and come back to Ryozanpaku?" she asked hopefully.

"Eh, I'll think about it, anyway," he replied. "For now all I really care about is my next match. I'll worry about that stuff when the tournament is over."

"Please do," she told encouraged him. "We even offer boarding at a very reasonable fee."

"Yeah well, don't lose before our match tomorrow if you want to convince me," Ranma said as he turned and walked off. "It wouldn't exactly speak much for the training they offer."

Miu only hoped that everything did work out. They could pry Ranma away from Castor's manipulative clutches and possibly pick up two more boarders to help fund the dojo. Not to mention how nice it would be to have a girl her own age around more. But first, she had to make sure they won tomorrow.

* * *

Ranma had gotten a little more practice in last night with the two new techniques he'd come up with the day before, but he was now well rested and prepared for the match ahead. Ranma hadn't had any difficulty convincing Ethan to let him fight this one alone, so he now stood in front of the arena waiting to start. Seeing Reiko approaching the stage from the other side, Ranma hopped the moat and waited there until she joined him. The expression on her face was quite serious, and to his relief, didn't look at all love-struck.

"So, what are you doing here, Reiko?" he asked, still a bit nervous about that fact even with her current demeanor.

"Mousse let me in on the news that there was a tournament coming up you'd be participating in," she answered. "He was able to get me entered as well, which gives me the perfect chance for the rematch I've been wanting."

That still didn't explain how Mousse found out about it, but at least she claimed to only be here for a fight. And if that's what she wanted, he was more than happy to oblige.

"Well, I'm ready whenever you are," he told her, getting into the same relaxed stance he'd used in their first fight and again waiting for Reiko to make the opening move. Meanwhile, he was ensuring his ki was properly flowing to all his muscles and running through some likely scenarios for their opening exchange.

Much like their first battle, she came on with more speed than he'd expected. He knew Reiko would have improved, but he hadn't thought it would be so dramatic. She'd clearly been holding back in the match against the Shinpaku Alliance. That said, if she was expecting it to start off the same as the last fight, she was in for a much bigger shock, as his own improvements were greater still. Deflecting her initial attack without too much difficulty, he danced away from her.

Frustratingly enough, she still had the upper hand in speed, even using his new ability, and as skilled as she was, that was a dangerous imbalance. Not wanting to leave it at that, he risked forcing a little more ki into his muscles, having to quickly stop as he felt a bit of a strain from them. Ignoring that, he started his own assault, getting in a brief exchange of blows with Reiko that left neither of them with a clean hit but proved that their speed was all but even. Ranma even thought he might have a slight edge, if anything, but he'd need to see more to ensure she wasn't holding back.

One down side to the fastest paced fight he'd ever been in was that it gave him less time to act out their fight in his head in order to predict her movements. But thanks to all the practice he'd got yesterday, he was still able to get enough where it should be a major advantage. Yes, he had a good feeling about this fight after those quick exchanges, leading him to give off a confident smile that was only further bolstered by Reiko's own obvious displeasure. No doubt she'd assumed she could just overpower him in this fight and was cranky over him catching up to her. Well, too bad for her. She'd just have to deal with it.

Pressing forward with another attack, he quickly proved his new mental technique was still earning its keep as he saw through Reiko's planned defense and landed the first solid blow of the match with a punch to the cheek that twisted her whole upper body to the side with its force. As a bonus, this left a major blind spot he could exploit to hopefully really send her reeling. Sending a kick toward her unprotected back, he looked forward to sending her crashing face first into the hard floor of the arena.

Meanwhile, Reiko was turning the momentum from her spin into a sort of cartwheel to get space from him, but Ranma didn't change his plan, calculating that he'd started his own attack fast enough that he'd get it off before she was out of his range. So he was completely unprepared for her legs wrapping around his own attacking limb, latching on, and being used to yank him in the air as Reiko continued her cartwheel. She even managed to twist him such that it was his back that collided with the floor.

Ranma had at least had time to position himself to distribute the impact so that it did little damage, as jarring as it had been, and he quickly flipped back to his own feet and got back into a defensive stance. Even as he'd been flying through the air, his mind had been at work trying to figure out how she'd done that. Ranma was certain that she hadn't been able to actually see what he was doing. Sure she would have sensed the attack coming, but her counter had required far too much precision to pull off based on a general feeling like that.

Nor did he think it likely she had simply predicted the angle of his assault. Nothing in the fight so far had shown her good enough at guessing what he would do for that, so it would be odd for her to only gain that ability now. No, he didn't know how, but she had to have actually been able to tell exactly what he was doing. Come to think of it, there was an odd feeling in the air whenever he got close to Reiko that reminded him of when Ryoga was charging up for a Shi Shi Hokodan, only much less depressing. He'd bet good money that had something to do with it.

So, she had some fancy technique that more or less gave her eyes in the back of her head. A nice ability, but not enough of an advantage to change the way the fight was going to end. The same trick wouldn't fool him twice, and he'd just use two tricks of his own for every one she came up with if need be. Ranma was not losing this.

* * *

Kenichi was in absolute awe. Sure he'd seen even higher level fights from his masters, but he'd never imagined he would see anyone his own age fight with such skill and speed, much less two of them. Even Miu had never seemed quite so far beyond him. The dance of attack, dodge, block, and counter continued at such a breathtaking pace, with so few hits actually landing, that it almost seemed as if they'd choreographed it in advance.

"They really are both quite talented," the Elder mused as the flurry of movement continued.

"Not like Kenichi at all," Apachai added helpfully, in a blow to his pride that thankfully was nowhere near as painful as one of the Muay Thai master's actual blows.

"Yes, it really is night and day between them, isn't it?" Akisame agreed

"Hey, I'm sure they've both been training much longer than I have!" Kenichi protested.

"Tch … making excuses," Sakaki griped. "If you ever want to be on their level you'll have to spend more time working for it, and less whining about their advantages."

It's not like it would make much of a difference anyway at this point. There was no way he could get better than either of them in time to win the tournament. It looked like his happy dream of dating Miu would be over almost before it started. And he'd been so excited when their semi-final opponent had told them he was withdrawing from the tournament. He'd come looking for someone who turned out not be here, so he claimed to have no reason to continue. Little good that did him now.

Then again, watching the two of them go at it like that, maybe Nijima had been right. They might beat themselves up so badly that the winner was in no shape to continue. He might yet have a chance.

"So, does either of them have an advantage?" Kenichi asked his masters, hoping they answered in the negative.

"Hard to say," Shigure answered first, cheering him with the claim.

"Apachai does not know who will win," Apachai chimed in, further bolstering his confidence.

"It really is an interesting fight," Kensei added. "As evenly matched as they are, they're very different fighters in more than just the styles they use. Ranma's training seems quite uneven, in areas such as his ki control and his ability to manipulate the fight into a favorable direction he's already into master level. Yet he hasn't even chosen the Sei or Dou path yet, and that's not the only training he's lacking in."

Kenichi perked up at hearing there was one area at least where he actually surpassed someone of Ranma's skill.

"Reiko on the other hand has a well-developed Seikuken, better physical conditioning, and a far more balanced skill set. It really will be interesting to see which one wins."

"If I had to predict the outcome, I would say it favors Reiko," Akisame declared. "You can practically see the careful molding of her training that she's gone through her entire life. Whoever trained her is very skilled and has a clear path set out for her on the road to becoming a master. Ranma has weaknesses that can be exploited, while Reiko has been left with none of any significance."

"Bah, what a boring answer," Sakaki complained. "Becoming the best shouldn't be about following some carefully constructed plan. You need to struggle, find your own strengths, and hone them into deadly weapons. Ranma may be a little rough around the edges, but specializing can leave you with trump cards your opponent would never expect someone on your level to be capable of. A fight can end in an instant, and my money is on Ranma pulling something out of his hat that does just that."

"Well, hopefully it won't end too quickly," Kenichi exclaimed, wanting nothing decisive at all about the victory.

"Yeah, you can learn so much just from watching this," Miu agreed, completely missing his point as her own eyes remained glued on the match.

"Personally, I'm going to have agree with Sakaki's choice in victor," the Elder declared.

"Hah, told you," Sakaki bragged, thumping his chest loudly and taking a swig from a beer he was holding, earning him a sharp look from Akisame.

"Not for the reason you gave, however," the Elder continued. "You see, there is one major weakness I do notice in Reiko."

"Oh, what's that?" Nijima asked curiously, forcing his way into the conversation before Kenichi even realized the alien had been anywhere close enough to overhear.

"You can tell by watching her fight that she's not used to tough battles against those close to her own level," the Elder noted. "It's a common enough problem among prodigies. They've been trained by masters who are far beyond them and spar with peers who can't compete. As such, they get very little experience against those their own level."

"And that makes that much of a difference?" Kenichi queried.

"Yes," the Elder answered. "I can tell that Ranma has the drive and determination that comes from having to truly push yourself to the limit to win. The fight is sure to help Reiko in that regard, but as it stands, she lacks that drive. It gives Ranma a strong edge. At least assuming the fight doesn't drag on too long."

"Why would that be an issue?" Miu questioned.

"He simply won't be able to keep up at his current level nearly as long as Reiko," he answered vaguely.

So, it was a stamina issue or something then? It was amazing what the Elder could see just from watching a fight. Even being told in advance, the only thing Kenichi could see was Ranma lacking a Seikuken, but he'd just assumed he was a Dou type fighter before. Still, he hoped the Elder was wrong. Even with Castor injured, Ranma still had Pollux as a teammate who might aid him in the next round. One dangerous enemy was more than enough, thank you very much.

* * *

The match had been too even for Ranma's tastes. By his tally, he was slightly in the lead in exchanges, but even after all the fighting, both were still more or less uninjured, and that simply didn't bode well for Ranma. He was using his ki much more effectively, but that came at the cost of burning through it faster. If he wasn't able to gain a stronger advantage, he'd end up losing this.

Even knowing that, his options for shifting the balance of the fight were limited. Burning through ki faster wasn't the only downside to his technique. Building up enough ki to generate the chi for his Moko Takabisha disrupted his control briefly. Trying to use it at close range would slow him down and leave him vulnerable to counterattack. And if Ranma backed off to get enough space, his attack would probably just be dodged and waste more of his ki.

Pressure points weren't looking any more promising. He'd tried a few attacks, but Reiko was ready for him this time, and proved very skilled at preventing him from landing them where they needed to go. Given that he hadn't had the chance to properly work them into his style either, even attempting to use them tended to leave openings, that while small, Reiko was skilled enough to exploit. So he'd more or less given up on that front for the time being and decided to stick to what he knew.

With those options denied him, he saw only one real shot at winning this quickly enough, and thankfully Reiko showed no sign of having been trained in the Bakusai Tenketsu. That was important since he planned to drop defense completely and switch to an all out offensive. They should both end up taking far more blows this way, and he'd just have to outlast her. Ranma had a lot of practice standing up to punishment between his fights with Ryoga, Taro, the old freak, and whatever other nut showed up to challenge him. Needless to say, he felt the odds favored him in this contest.

That said, he may have waited too long to make this decision, and he really needed to end this quickly, so he was going to take another risk to try and give him an extra little edge. That was raising the ki he was pumping into his muscles even a bit more than he already was. Doing so quickly changed the strain he was feeling in his muscles into a sort of burning tingling sensation that probably wasn't a good thing, but wasn't enough to stop him.

Putting his plan into motion, he was pleased to see that it did give him a small boost in speed, and using the surprise he hoped that would bring, he started his all-out assault immediately. The fight quickly took a far more brutal turn as it went more or less as he expected. Taking a punch to the face left Reiko open for a kick that slammed into her side. He let a kick from Reiko through his defenses, ignoring the pain as it landed in his gut almost doubling him over, as it allowed him to grab the offending leg and slam Reiko into ground hard enough to leave a crater in the floor.

Ranma never let up for a moment to give Reiko the chance to recover as each of them continued to add to their collection of bruises and other injuries. Very briefly the notion flashed through his mind about how he didn't like fighting girls, but as absorbed in the match as he was, he hardly even noticed it, and didn't miss a step as their fight continued.

Ranma's own body was really starting to protest the action he'd been up to. Thanks to the level of abuse they were dishing out to each other, it looked as if one way of the other it would be over well before he ran out of ki. Still, he ignored the pain and pressed on, finally seeing the reward for his efforts just a few short moments later, as Reiko was clearly being slowed by her own injuries. Taking advantage of that, Ranma slipped through her guard and hit her with an uppercut that must have left her dazed, as she didn't even attempt to defend herself when he continued his assault and slammed her back down into the ground.

Still not seeing much in the way of reaction, Ranma seized upon the opportunity to finally make use of some of the pressure point lessons he'd undergone and end this. Darting out his hand, he found a spot on the back of Reiko's neck and shot some ki through his finger just as he'd remembered being told to. The rolling back of her eyes just before Reiko went completely limp proved his training in that regard hadn't been completely in vain.

Standing up, Ranma was just starting to feel the rush of victory from a hard fought battle when Rachel's master's voice boomed through the arena's speakers.

"Winner: Team Gemini!"

A stirring near his feet indicated that Reiko was already coming to. Must not have done that quite right, as there was no way she should be up so soon. Still, it served its purpose.

"I lost, didn't I?" she asked him morosely as she pulled herself up to her knees.

"Fraid so," he told her simply, but was quickly treated to the sight of her slamming her fist down to the arena floor hard enough to shatter the area around it.

"Why?" she cried out angrily. "Granny keeps telling me I'm as good as you are, and since our last battle I trained harder than I ever had before to make sure I won this time. So how did I lose again after going all out right from the start?"

Looking at Reiko, Ranma could actually see tears starting to form in her eyes, putting Ranma on edge. He just never knew how to deal with a crying girl.

"Don't worry about it so much," Ranma told her trying to calm her down. "You may have been training hard, but my master didn't want to let me do the training I've been under because he was afraid it would kill me. It was a nice shortcut to catching up with you, but I might not always improve so fast."

He would if he had anything to say about it, but it might be best not to mention that here. Especially since his words already looked less effective than he'd hoped.

"Besides, that was probably about the best fight I ever had," he assured her. "Sure Ryoga used to make me work for my wins from time to time, but that was more getting it through his thick skull that he was outclassed and that he should just stay down. You're the first person my age who's ever been able to match me move for move and really push my skills to the limit because I know you'll take advantage of any mistakes I make."

"I know what you mean," she said, still sounding to be in a sour mood, but at least looking less likely to break into sobs. "I just wish you'd have given me a few more to take advantage of. You're a very frustrating person to fight, but I admit I admit the challenge was a bit exhilarating up until the end."

"Well, you can fight me again anytime," he told her. "I can't think of anyone who would do a better job at keeping me on my toes. Of course I'll win again, but I'm sure you'll make me work for it."

"Don't be be too quick to count me out" she fired back, and thankfully did look to be cheering up. "Your own story proves I still have room to up my training. You just wait and see how well you do against me next time, now that I plan to really get serious."

"I look forward to it," he told her, giving a small little mock salute and turning to leave the arena.

He meant what he said too. Sure he'd prefer if his rival were a guy, but he supposed he could live with it being Reiko, seeing as she didn't have any romantic interest in him. And he'd meant what he said about preferring her fighting style to Ryoga's. Fighting Reiko would keep him sharper than trying to beat his way through Ryoga's thick skin. Not that Ryoga was terrible at martial arts, but Reiko just had the lost boy beat in speed and pure prowess of her technique. He had a lot more respect for the Joketsuzoku's style of Wu Shu after seeing her employ than he'd ever gotten from Shampoo.

Taking the chance to look around now, he was surprised to see Rachel's bed had been wheeled out to the side of the arena, just before the stands. She lay there with the back propped up so she could watch while Ethan stood next to her. Wanting to make sure she was okay, Ranma hurried over to her. Seeing him coming, she lifted her hand into the air, confusing Ranma until a microphone landed in it, tossed from up where her master was sitting.

"I just knew you would win, darling," she declared, sending a bit of a shiver down his spine with her words. "Now you'll be able to punish that monster Kenichi for me in the finals."

"Punish him for what?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I was ashamed to say anything, but he's done ... terrible things to me," she declared. "I can't bring myself to say any more, but please, just make him pay for his crimes."

"That's a lie!" Ranma heard Kenichi shouting from the stands. "I never did anything to her!"

Could it be true though? Kenichi hadn't struck him as a terrible person. Then again, he had seen a few looks when he was in his girl form, so he supposed it was possible.

"Well, we'll see if he even makes it to the final," Ranma pointed out.

"The Tenchi Mushin Ryu team has withdrawn from the tournament," Diego's voice boomed from the speakers. "The final match between Team Gemini and Team Ryozanpaku will begin shortly."

Well, that was bad news for Ranma. He was counting on the match buying him some time to recover. The injuries Reiko's attacks had left were bad enough, but he could fight through the pain. There was also a concern that his ki was still kind of low. But the worst part was, he could tell that last bit of ki he'd dosed his muscles with had done some damage. Nothing too bad yet, but using his new ability any further was a risky venture at this point.

"I don't mind you helping me out this time ... uh ... Pollux," he told Ethan, remembering the stage name at the last moment.

"I'd feel better if you were the one to avenge me," Rachel told him. "Please, do it for my sake, would you?"

At that he saw Rachel finally turn off the microphone and stash it in the bed.

"Now we've got a couple of hooks in this match to engage the audience," she declared. "But I don't trust my brother not to ruin the mood again. You've done passably so far, but try to really work the crowd, let them feel your hatred for Kenichi. It won't be a proper show otherwise."

Ranma now didn't know what to think. Had she just made that claim against Kenichi for her own amusement? Whatever the truth, he had a fight to win, and he wasn't about to play Rachel's games. Deciding to leave it at that, he turned to head back for the arena, finding his way blocked by a new figure, a boy with light-blue hair done in a ponytail.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Kano Sho," he answered. "They haven't even told you that much?"

"Ah, Yomi's leader," he said with a nod.

"That's right," he answered. "You impressed me with your last fight, so I'm here as the leader to give you an order. Win or lose the match, I don't care, but Kenichi is mine to fight. So leave him in a condition to face me properly."

Whatever his official position, Ranma didn't like the idea of anyone bossing him around. Still, he could understand having someone you wanted to fight. He'd just been pretty selfish about the match with Reiko himself, so he bit back most of the retort he wanted to give.

"I'll see what I can do," he said as coolly as he could manage before continuing past him toward the arena, only to be stopped with a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, and before I forget, if you hurt Miu in any way, I'll kill you," Sho said fiercely, and turning his head to look the boy in the eye showed he was completely serious about that claim.

"You're not making this easy, you know," he complained.

Ranma was already hurting and now he was supposed to win without injuring either of his opponents?

"You could always just concede the match," Sho pointed out.

"Meh, I've come this far, I may as well win the thing," Ranma replied, pulling away from the hand and jumping across the moat until he was back in the arena.

His two opponents were already waiting there for him, Miu being full of determination while Kenichi looked to be scared of him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you win this match," Miu declared.

"Not your choice," he replied smugly. "Who wins this match is up to me."

"Too much is riding on the outcome to leave it at that," Miu fired back before getting into a stance and positioning herself closer to Ranma. "Come on, Kenichi."

"Miu is right," Kenichi added, seeming to have found his backbone somewhere. "We've made it all the way to finals. With victory this close I can't give up now."

Given how much his muscles protested the treatment he'd already put them through, Ranma decided he'd at least try to win with just a standard ki flow. That quickly proved to be a very difficult route. Her training match with her grandfather really had done Miu some good, and she was fighting at a higher level than when he'd watched her earlier in the tournament. It was actually quite impressive how light she was on her feet. Kenichi clearly wasn't up to her level, but made the fight more difficult nonetheless as they worked together quite well.

The pair was effective enough that Ranma had been put mostly on the defensive and was struggling to keep in this at all. It looked like playing it safe just wasn't going to happen. If he could just take one of them out, the rest would be a lot easier, and he'd noticed something as they fought that might help with that. Each of them seemed more focused on protecting the other than on their own defense. Press one too hard and the other was sure to interfere, even if they weren't in the best position to do so.

That gave him a plan to work with. Waiting until the pair of them were on either side of him, Ranma worked through the pain and forced ki into his muscles to speed himself up, completely ignoring Miu and charging straight at Kenichi. The force of his assault sent Kenichi sprawling backward despite having blocked the blow. Meanwhile, Ranma was constantly listening to the sound of Miu's footsteps behind him and picturing exactly where she was in his mind. With Kenichi having slowed him, she caught up, and the sudden silence indicated she'd leaped into the air a moment before his danger sense flared a warning.

He ignored it briefly as he pressed forward toward Kenichi, wishing he had whatever technique Reiko had used, and hoping he was able to correctly predict the exact course of her attack. At what had better be the last second, he ducked reaching up to grab the flying kick aimed at his back. Her actual attack was pretty close to the mental image he had of it, enough so that a minor adjustment allowed him to grasp the leg and fling her out of the ring.

Watching her trajectory, his heart sank as he realized that pretty close wasn't good enough. The slight delay had given Miu enough time to react that she'd been able to ruin the angle of his throw. She was taking a higher arc that would still bring her down outside the ring, but close enough for her to grab the ledge and flip herself back in. Trying to reach her himself and prevent her from doing that, he was halted by Kenichi, who had found his way back to his feet.

"I won't let you touch Miu," he vowed, already having slowed Ranma enough that there was no way he could reach her in time.

However, this also turned Kenichi's back to Miu, so that he was unable to see the new threat in order to warn the girl of it. Just as Miu was about to grab the ledge, Ethan grabbed her shirt from behind, finishing his own leap from outside the arena, and causing the girl to let out a small shriek.

"Miu!" Kenichi called out in alarm, turning just in time to see the pair tumble out of sight before hitting the water in a loud splash.

Ranma took advantage of his distraction to kick Kenichi in back, the momentum of which Kenichi turned into a roll as he then got back to his feet and faced toward Diego.

"That's not fair!" he protested. "Pollux wasn't even participating in the fight."

"You complain that he let you fight Ranma two on one?" Rachel said into the microphone, having pulled it out again. "You're a coward as well as a criminal! Now stand and face justice!"

"He is disqualified now," Diego informed them, giving his answer. "But no rules were broken so the girl is as well. The fight continues."

Ranma was grateful for that, but was still in a bit of a pinch. That kick to Kenichi should have sent him out of the ring as well, but it was clear that his little stunt had finally pushed his body too far. Instead of simply hurting, his muscles were no longer responding properly. Like when they were simply so exhausted that no amount of will could possible make them lift those weights you'd been training with one last time.

Of course, like in that scenario they seemed to be fine overall, and should just heal up even stronger, but that did him little good in the rest of this fight. He couldn't match up to Kenichi in speed right now. He was probably almost as slow as Kuno used to be. Not that he was going to leave it at that. Since his speed was wrecked no matter what he did, there wasn't any reason to withhold the Moko Takabisha any further. He'd see just how well Kenichi dealt with chi attacks.

Firing one off at the boy, his target froze up, not even attempting to move as it hit his arms and sent his whole body tumbling backward and rolling toward the edge of the ring. He sent another attack his way hoping to finish the job, but Kenichi finally got enough sense to roll to the side, avoiding it as the attack blasted a small chunk of the arena from the edge.

"What on earth was that?!" Kenichi screamed in a near panic.

Seemed he didn't handle them very well at all. Ranma would have to be a little conservative seeing as his ki was as dangerously low as ever, but this was still his fight to lose.

* * *

"Kenichi's right," Miu heard Ukita cry out as she made her way over to them, dripping water as she went. "Is he supposed to be some sort of wizard or something? That just isn't possible."

"It's a simple chi attack, not some kind of magic" Sakaki grumbled. "You're making it sound like it's way more impressive than it is."

"What part of that isn't impressive?!" Kisara protested.

"Sakaki, most people don't see stuff like that every day," Miu reminded him, hoping he wouldn't embarrass her too much this time.

"Still, it's something any true martial artist can learn if they put their mind to it," Sakaki argued.

"If that's true, wouldn't martial arts just become a matter of firing attacks like that back and forth at each other?" Nijima inquired.

"It's not as simple as that," Akisame lectured. "Like all techniques, there are drawbacks to their usage. Learning the technique is easy. Overcoming the limitations and using it effectively is much harder. There are some styles that make use of attacks like that, but they're complicated enough that that unless the whole style is built around them, it rarely works well. And few styles are willing to design themselves around techniques that can only be used by those who are already fairly accomplished martial artists."

"Still, we never taught Kenichi how to deal with attacks like that," Kensei noted. "Now the boy seems to be panicking."

They were right too. Kenichi was doing little more than running around trying to stay as far away from Ranma as he could without leaving the ring, and Ranma hadn't even fired a third of those attacks yet.

"Keep it together Kenichi!" she yelled out to him. "I know that you can still win this!"

Thanks to her carelessness, she'd been eliminated from the match, but somehow, she still felt that Kenichi could pull it off. Probably.

* * *

Too bad Miu's words had their intended effect on Kenichi. The boy may have been running around too fast for Ranma to waste any ki firing another Moko Takabisha at him, but standing there recuperating while Kenichi tired himself out worked just fine too. Still, maybe a little bit of bluffing could keep his opponent from becoming too sure of himself.

"You really think you have a chance?" Ranma taunted. "I was fighting evenly back when your girlfriend was helping, and even then I was just toying with you. You saw how I fought in the last match, so you know you ain't seen nothing yet."

"That doesn't matter," Kenichi yelled back. "It's not always the strongest fighter who wins. I'll admit you're stronger and everyone can see that so … is there any chance you could just let me win the tournament?"

Heh, Kenichi started off strongly enough there but really lost points for the end. Who just asked their opponent to throw the match? Well, Mousse had that one time, but that was Mousse.

"A lot of people seem to want me to lose this," Ranma noted as he slowly walked toward Kenichi, hoping the other boy wouldn't notice Ranma had already half charged his arm in preparation for another Moko Takabisha. "Why's it so important to you anyway?"

He saw Kenichi's eyes flash toward where Miu stood in the stands and Ranma used the opportunity to take a couple more steps while he was distracted. Just a little closer and he should be able to blast Kenichi out of the ring before he could dodge.

"Trying to impress your girlfriend?" he asked, needing to keep the conversation going just a little longer.

"She's not my girlfriend," Kenichi told him, but calmly rather than in the sort of reactionary denial Ranma often employed when accused of being close to one girl or another. "But her grandfather promised to let me date her if I won the tournament. That's why I can't lose here."

Ranma hadn't been expecting that, and the admission brought him up short. But he was already close enough to finish this.

"Look, I don't normally give advice like this, so you're only going to hear it from me once," he told Kenichi. "But if you really care for the girl, you need to stop wasting your time and do something about it no matter who's against it."

He immediately punctuated his words by firing off the Moko Takabisha he'd been holding back, then turned to face Diego as soon as the blast hit.

"I'm bored with this tournament, so I'm pulling out," he yelled to the man, turning back toward Kenichi and walking past where the stunned boy stood staring at the crater left by the attack Ranma had aimed right in front of his feet.

"I guess I'll let Sho have you in one piece, after all," he said to Kenichi as he went.

Jumping over out of the arena, Ranma's toes barely made enough contact to keep him from slipping down into the water and revealing the curse to everyone. This really was going to suck until he got a chance to rest and recuperate. Taking a few quick steps away from that particular danger, Ranma expected to hear some sort of outcry from Diego, but instead was treated to a series of explosions that rocked the whole arena. The cause was sure to be the jets flying overhead as the island's defenses briefly attempted to shoot them down before going quiet.

Ranma didn't know what was going on, but most of the crowd had already decided a panicked flight to be the best course of action, as the stands began to empty themselves. Looking over to where Sehrul stood, Ranma hoped for some kind of direction, but it was Diego who spoke first.

"The audience is leaving, so I guess that's our cue to do the same," he declared, still making use of the speaker system so everyone left could hear him.

As if in response to his words, a jet that looked much like the one they'd arrived on touched down next to the arena. Diego and Ethan and were already heading for it, and Ranma noticed that even Rachel was out of her bed and sprinting toward it as if nothing was wrong. It was possible she was just good at dealing with pain, or simply had a speedy enough recovery that it wasn't a major issue anymore, but seeing the carefree expression on her face, he was a little skeptical of that.

For his part, Ranma hesitated, worried about what exactly he'd be leaving behind. His reaction must have been noticed, as Sehrul appeared beside him a moment later.

"Come now. We need to leave," he told Ranma, motioning to the plane.

"Not just yet," Ranma insisted. "There's some people here I want to make sure get out okay."

"They have several master level fighters to protect them," Sehrul pointed out. "Your help should not be needed."

That made sense, but even if they weren't exactly friends yet, he knew them well enough that it just didn't feel right abandoning them. And considering Reiko was here only because of him, he especially owed it to her to see she got out of this mess.

"If they can get them out safely than I should be able to tag along as well," Ranma argued. "So I'll just stay here and make sure you're right, then catch up with you later."

"There's no time for that," Sehrul told him. "I apologize for this."

Ranma had barely had a chance to puzzle for a moment over what he meant by that when he felt something press into his neck and everything went black. It felt like only a moment later that he opened his eyes, but he had clearly been moved. He'd just been laid out flat on the floor inside some building. Sitting up he saw seven others in the room, two of them being Rachel and Ethan. Most of the the rest seemed to be around his age as well. Although one was a girl several years longer that looked quite out of place.

The again, one of her companions was in a wheel chair, another Ranma couldn't guess an age or gender for under the robe they wore, and the rest of the crowd was all quite colorful as well. Maybe she wasn't so out of place after all.

"Did everyone make it out okay?" he asked first, worried about what happened while he was out and more than a little annoyed for having missed. it.

"Kano Sho perished," Ethan answered. "I am not aware of any other deaths."

"Sho, huh?" he asked, never liking to hear anyone died, but not knowing him well enough to get all that worked up over it. "What got him?"

"It was reported that he was shot," Ethan answered, but I was not told the specifics.

Ranma hoped that not being aware of any other deaths meant Reiko and the Shinpaku Alliance folks got out alive, but he wasn't certain how much intel they'd actually have on anyone outside of Yomi.

"Are you certain we should be telling him this?" the little girl asked. "I am still not aware of the reason he was brought here in the first place."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," answered a heavily muscled guy with an eye-patch that looked to be in the middle of chess, shogi, and go, all at the same time, each played against a different one of his companions. He certainly didn't look like the brainy type. Then again, his pops loved games like that, and he certainly didn't have all that much going on upstairs.

"He's likely to be joining our ranks very shortly," the guy continued.

With talk of joining their ranks, it finally hit Ranma that this must be a meeting of Yomi's leaders.

"Why are you so certain he'll be chosen?" the little girl queried. "I've never heard of him. Is he even on our level?"

"I'm plenty skilled," Ranma insisted, starting to get ticked off at the little girl's attitude, even if it didn't seem like she was being deliberately insulting.

"I take it you haven't heard much about the tournament if you're even questioning that," Rachel declared. "For the moment, he may actually be the strongest person in the room. Seems to have a knack for stirring up drama as well."

Ranma smirked at the surprised look that got out of the little brat, but his attention was quickly brought back to Rachel as she sauntered over to him.

"In fact, if you're not careful, I may start falling for you for real," Rachel told him, leaning in closely, which emphasized once again how little the outfit she wore actually covered.

Ranma quickly scurried back from his seated position, getting quickly to his feet as soon as he was a safer distance, a sweat already breaking out. That reaction that earned a sudden laugh from the girl that had just caused it.

"Strong as he is, he's still way too easy to mess with," she declared in her mirth.

"Is it really necessary to play these games?" Ethan asked his sister, who ignored him completely.

"Back to the matter at hand, I have it on good authority that the Demon Fist has already expressed interest in taking Ranma here on as his official disciple," Eyepatch Boy declared.

"Is only the Demon Fist interested?" Ethan asked, actually sounding nervous. "Is there any chance the God Hand might take him instead?"

"Is there something wrong with the Demon Fist?" Ranma asked quickly, before Ethan's own question could get answered.

"Perhaps the fact that he recently killed his previous disciple," the guy in the wheelchair answered.

Hearing the reply and focusing his attention on him, Ranma realized that he actually knew the guy. It was Ryuto, the one Kenichi had fought back when he'd been clashing with that Ragnarok organization. Still, he had more important concerns.

"Why would he kill his own disciple?" Ranma asked a bit darkly, not liking the sound of that, whatever the reason.

"He failed to follow his orders to kill Shirahama Kenichi," declared a guy wearing a camouflage suit that looked like something out of a military uniform.

That explanation only made things sound worse. They were sending kids out to murder other kids and then killing them off if they failed? Even if it was just this Demon Fist who was that bad, the rest of Yomi seemed far too casual about the whole killing thing for his liking. Maybe he should have taken Nabiki's words just a bit more seriously.

Regardless, he'd only stuck around because he liked Sehrul's training. If they were trading him off to this other guy, then he didn't want anything more to do with them. At least not if the Demon Fist was anything like what they described. Pity about it all, considering how much progress he'd made under Sehrul, but if Miu was telling the truth, he might still have options. Getting to find out what happened to everyone would be a nice bonus as well if he went with that.

He owed Sehrul enough to at least talk it over with him, but if he didn't like how that talk went, he'd blow this joint and go hop back over to Ryozanpaku to see if their training was any good.

* * *

**Notes:**

I hope everyone enjoyed getting to see the results of Ranma's training. Given how long this chapter already was, you can probably see why I split the tournament into two chapters. As I believe I've already mentioned, the Ranma cast will stay involved, and won't just be making occasional cameos.

Next chapter should be a good setup for the next part of the story and let you know a bit about how that will work out. I'll try to get it out at a reasonable pace.


	5. Settling In

Sehrul had been worried something like this would happen, and those fears had proved well-founded. The Demon God Fist had hardly waited for the gathering of Yami's leaders before he declared his desire to take Ranma as an apprentice. This was all but the worst possible scenario. A little more time with Ranma, and Sehrul might have even supported allowing another Fist to take over, as he would likely have been able to retain Ranma's loyalty even after he was transferred. That loyalty would be of little use to him should Ranma be brought under Jenezad's iron fist.

Sehrul knew enough of Jenezad's training methods to realize that Radin had been one of the fortunate ones. With his loyalty already suspect, Ranma would be unlikely to keep much of his original mind intact.

"With all due respect, Jenazad-dono," Sehrul told him. "Ranma is my disciple and I have already invested a significant amount of time in training him."

"So?" he replied simply. "You already have a disciple, while I find myself without one."

"Only because you killed yours," Kushinada chided, disapproval clear.

"Regardless, it is unprecedented for one of Yami's Fists to give a disciple over to another," Sehrul told Jenazad, the masked man responding by standing up from his chair and gathering a highly aggressive aura around him that put Sehrul on edge.

"That may be true, but killing another Fist isn't quite so unprecedented and would leave Ranma free for me to take in," he declared.

Despite himself, Sehrul couldn't help but be a little intimidated, Jenazad was the type of man who might just follow through on that threat, and if Sehrul was being honest with himself, would more likely than not succeed if he did. Even so, he didn't like being bullied into giving up Ranma.

"Perhaps there are other options for your new disciple than simply Ranma," Sehrul pointed out. "I know that Ogata recently took in a very talented individual. And he'd be easier to train in your style given that he's not yet rooted in his own. Plus, Ogata is in the same situation as me, already having a disciple of his own."

"I do technically still have a disciple," Ogata, admitted, "but as you're all aware, he's been crippled. You can't expect me to give up my best hope to replace him."

Despite the soundness of that logic, Sehrul was hoping Jenazad would adjust the focus of his attention, but he gave no sign of interest in this new potential disciple.

"Give him what he wants," Saiga declared, with a firmness that made it clear the One Shadow would broke no argument. "If you wish you can name Ranma your primary disciple, but whichever you choose, I'm giving the other to Jenazad."

Saiga must know that was no true choice. Ranma may have more potential, but Ethan had been his disciple for years and was the student he was passing on his own style to. There was no way he could hand him over to Jenazad. There's no telling what the man would do to him out of anger for being slighted on his first choice. No, this was over, but he would get whatever small revenge he yet could for this.

"Might I have some time to consider the choice?" Sehrul requested.

"You have one day," Saiga answered.

* * *

Ranma was still the center of a lot of attention, but much of the conversation had fallen away. Getting more time to look over the Yomi crowd showed a very strong tension between most of them. It kind of reminded him of the times he'd worked together with Mousse and Ryoga. Sure they may be helping each other now, but it was clear that each of them had their own goals, some of which might lead to them butting heads in the future.

Well, if any of them wanted to start something with Ranma he'd teach them how bad an idea that was. He'd always been a fast healer, and his unplanned rest had left him mostly recovered. More than enough to handle the likes of them, anyway. Still, he didn't have any real reason to start a fight. The only one that had really been getting on his nerves was the twerp, but beating up on a little girl because she mouthed off a bit was probably an overreaction.

Then again, if there wasn't going to be a fight, he didn't feel like sticking around. The atmosphere was far from pleasant and he wanted to explore a bit and try to figure out where they'd taken him. Not even bothering to explain what he was doing, Ranma walked to the door and let himself out. Ranma almost expected there to be a guard or something at the door, but nobody tried to stop him, so he soon found himself wandering around hallways looking for an exit. Weren't they supposed to mark those or something?

He'd only been at it for about a minute when Sehrul appeared in front him. The large man's face wasn't pleasant and Ranma figured he was about to get told off for not staying put.

"I wasn't expecting to see you up and about just yet," Sehrul told him.

"Yeah, well, here I am," Ranma said. "Did a bit of talking with the rest of the youth brigade and I have to say, I'm thankful for the training, but I'm not so sure I'm going to be sticking around much longer."

"Are you suggesting you intend to sever ties with Yami?" Sehrul asked, getting a very dangerous tone to his voice.

Ranma might not be able to stand up to Sehrul yet, but he wasn't about to get intimidated into staying if he didn't want to. So rather than cowering away from the man or caving he puffed out his chest and took a step closer.

"That's right," he insisted. "You got a problem with that?"

Ranma saw a lot of ways this could go, but none of them involved Sehrul relaxing and breaking into a smile, which left him confused when that's exactly what happened.

"Then your timing couldn't be more perfect," he answered. "I'm glad this is entirely your own idea, but I would waste little time in following through on it. I've been ordered to hand you over to the Demon God Fist within the next day. I won't impede your departure, but he won't be so kind if he discovers your plans."

"You're just going to let me go?" Ranma asked. Sure, Sehrul had always seemed cool enough to him, but given what he was starting to find out about Yami, he wasn't expecting that much.

"I don't want the Demon Fist to get his hands on you," the man answered. "If I let you go perhaps you'll succeed in escaping him. Or perhaps he'll kill you as punishment. Either situation is better than him having you as his disciple."

Rather have him dead? If he'd do that just to spite his fellow Fist, maybe he was right to be worried about him after all.

"Don't misunderstand," Sehrul continued, not having missed Ranma's reaction. "Even for you, death is likely the better alternative. You don't know what that man is capable of."

Sehrul actually looked serious too. Now _that_ was an unsettling thought.

"In that case, I guess I'll leave well I still can," Ranma answered. "I'll just ..."

"Don't tell me anything further," Sehrul interrupted. "It's best if I don't know your plans."

"Well, thanks again for all your help," Ranma said with a wave. "Give Ethan my regards too."

Turning to run off he'd only gone a few strides before stopping and turning back sheepishly.

"Can you at least tell me the way out of here?"

* * *

"Ranko, Reiko is here," her mom called out from downstairs.

"Send her up," Ranko called back, glad to hear from her friend who had disappeared a week ago without a word.

The sound of footsteps quickly followed, giving her plenty of warning prior to the door opening and her best friend entering.

"Where have you been?" Ranko asked, a little annoyed to have been kept in the dark. Even Reiko's family hadn't been willing to tell her more than that she was on some sort of training, although she'd started wondering if they'd even been told anything else themselves.

"Got a sudden invite to a tournament I just had to participate in," Reiko answered with a shrug.

"And that took you all this time?" Ranko inquired.

"It was overseas," her purple-haired friend answered.

Despite herself she felt a pang of jealousy at that. She'd made her decision that she didn't want to focus solely on martial arts as Reiko did and instead try out other activities to discover more about herself and what she wanted to do. Nevertheless, she was a martial artist and often wished she were as accomplished of one as her friend. To actually be invited to an overseas tournament? It just drove home how far apart they were in that regard.

"Anyway, that's not what I came to talk about," Reiko continued. "I wanted to speak with you about this girl I ran into by the tournament. She was going by the name Tendo Ranko."

"That'd hardly be the first case of two people sharing the same name," Ranko pointed out, curious as to where this was going.

"That might be true, but she was using Anything Goes," Reiko explained.

Now she saw how odd this was. She wasn't aware of any other relatives who'd even been taught Anything Goes, much less one who shared her name. Even Ranko wasn't truly a practitioner of Anything Goes. She learned some from her mother and grandfather, but her dad had been her primary teacher and her style more closely resembled his.

"I don't even know who would have taught her," Ranko admitted. "Mom and Grandpa are the only possibilities, and I don't think either of them are gone often enough to have a secret student."

"That's another part of the puzzle," Reiko told her. "It wasn't the Tendo school she was using but the Saotome. Her style was extremely similar to Ranma's the time I fought him."

"Then you think Genma trained her?" Ranko asked, struggling to puzzle out any possible motivation for the man to have done so, much less have his student commandeer Ranko's name.

"I really couldn't tell you," she answered, "but considering it's your name she's using, I figured I'd let you decide how to handle it."

"What could I really say?" Ranko queried. "Our only real lead is Genma, not that I'd trust whatever story he came up with. Unless you managed to get another lead while you were there."

"As a matter of fact, I do have one," Reiko declared proudly, obviously enjoying the process of slowly feeding Ranko the information instead of just coming out with it. "It seems she has ties to a dojo named Ryozanpaku. I looked it up, and it's right here in Tokyo."

"It is still summer break," Ranko mused. "I might have to drop by and see what I can find out."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Reiko asked, concern clear in her voice. Ranko wasn't sure if she was worried for her safety or just afraid she'd get lost on the way, but as much as she wanted to prove she could handle herself on both fronts, maybe she should at least hear her friend out.

"Do you think it will be dangerous?" she asked.

"Well, none of them struck me as the type who would react violently to a few questions," Reiko admitted. "Still, it's hard to say for certain when we don't even know what's going on."

"Should I worry if this 'Ranko' does try something?" she asked Reiko.

"Hmm, I think you could probably take her if it came right down to it, but I wouldn't let your guard down," Reiko advised. "She wasn't completely unskilled."

"Then I think I'll take care of it myself," Ranko declared. "After your disappearing act, I like the idea of keeping you in the dark for a bit while I get to the bottom of this."

Reiko's frown made it clear she wasn't happy with this decision, but she took it well enough and didn't protest. Ranko was actually more curious than anything about just what this was all about. But if she found the imposter was trying to drag her name through the mud, or something like that, things could change in a flash.

* * *

Miu was just bringing out snacks to where Kenichi was busy training. It was some basic weight training like they'd done countless times before, except they'd upgraded their equipment. Rather than simply a few spikes in strategic locations, Kenichi was all but surrounded by them, such that moving his body in almost any way would be unwise.

The idea was to force him into the exact pose they wanted to work the muscles they were aiming for rather than letting him shift his weight at all. They adjusted the machine at times to work on other muscle groups, but Kenichi was completely at their mercy as to when and how that happened.

Miu wished such a setup wasn't necessary, but Kenichi's motivation could waver at times, and he'd done training like this without being injured in the past, so it probably wasn't a big deal. While she was in the process of handing out the snacks, the gate opened letting Ranma stride through.

"We have a guest!" Kenichi yelled out eagerly. "We'll have to continue the training some other time!"

"If you're here to challenge him, our disciple is busy at the moment; you'll have to come back at some other time," Akisame told him, not halting Kenichi's training as he'd requested.

"Meh, didn't much like what I was finding out about Yami, so I cut ties with them and left," Ranma declared. "I'm actually here to see if you've come to your senses about letting me train here."

"That's great!" Miu declared happily as she approached him, genuinely thrilled with the news. "Is Ranko leaving as well?"

"Um … yeah," Ranma answered, looking a little nervous for some reason. "She didn't want to stick around any more than I did."

"And did Castor talk to you about anything after the tournament?" she asked hoping the awkwardness of his response might have something to do with that.

"Who? Oh yeah, Rachel. We talked about a few things, but I doubt any of them were stuff you'd be interested in," Ranma replied, drawing a frown from Miu.

"The next time you see her, just remind her of the deal we had," Miu answered, bothered by the fact that the other girl hadn't kept her word, but not sure it was wise to press the issue now.

"If you say so," Ranma told her, still confused. "But back to the point. You guys all saw what I can do, so don't try to pretend your not interested in training me. Just bring that contract back out and let me sign it."

Ah yes, Miu had all but forgotten about that news. Another student would help with the bills, and maybe they could even talk Ranko into joining as well.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," her grandfather declared sternly, shocking Miu that he would try something like this twice.

"What are you trying to pull?" Ranma asked. "I know all about the last time being a con to try and wring more money out of me. Don't try to play that game again."

Miu wasn't about to let him mess this up a second time either, and was going to add her own protests but her grandfather replied before she had the chance.

"Don't misunderstand, we'll all be happy to help you with your training," he answered. "It's just that seeing you in the tournament made it clear that you're well beyond the disciple level. It just wouldn't be right to take you as a student; you're already a master yourself."

"True enough," Ranma replied, basking in the praise. Miu still didn't know what he was up to, however. Ranma was certainly quite skilled, and they'd even said some of his individual skills were master level already, but he had a long way to go to truly earn that title. Nor was anyone here the type to worry about any sort of propriety related to Ranma being too strong to be a disciple.

"So instead we'd like to let you join Ryozanpaku as one of us," her grandfather continued. "We could certainly benefit from having someone of your talents among us. Does the offer sound good to you?"

Ranma barely wasted any time glancing at the offered hand before reaching out and shaking it. "Sounds good to me. So when do we get started with the training."

"Of course now that you've joined there are a couple of responsibilities as well," he told Ranma. "Most notably that we all share the burden of paying the bills. Speaking of which, things are just a little tight at the moment, so I'll have to ask you to help out with your share right now."

Ah, so that was it. Miu felt more than a little guilty that her grandfather had buttered him up like that just to manipulate him and thought it might be best to put a stop to it before this got out of hand.

"Hmm, haven't really had much chance to spend this, so I still have almost 100,000 yen on me," Ranma declared, pulling out an envelope and taking a wad of a bills out of it. "How long will this cover me for?"

"I'm so glad you joined," Miu said excitedly, hurrying over to Ranma. "We always have room for another martial artists of your caliber around here."

Miu made a grab for the bills, but had another hand snatched them away just before she reached it.

"Great, we haven't had any cash for booze, and I was about out of my mind," Sakaki said as he was counting up the money.

"Hey, we need to conserve that money so that we don't end up broke again," Miu reprimanded him. "No alcohol until we can actually afford it."

"But this is a special occasion," Sakaki argued. "It would be rude not to celebrate the arrival of our newest member."

"A party?" Apachai asked eagerly. "We're going to have a party?"

"We have been on rather tight rations lately," Kensei noted. "I think a bit of a treat might not be completely unwarranted."

Looking around, it was clear she had no allies on her call for restraint, as all the masters seemed intent to burn through the money as quickly as they could.

"Why don't we head out and grab the supplies now?" Sakaki suggested.

"Sure, just get me out of this thing first," Kenichi exclaimed eagerly.

"Don't be absurd," Akisame replied. "You haven't been at it nearly long enough. We'll let you out when we get back."

"I'll die before then!" Kenichi insisted.

"Quit your whining already, Miu can look after you if you're so worried," Sakaki countered then started to walk toward the entrance with the rest of the masters following along.

As much as she'd like to do just that, if she didn't follow them now, there wasn't likely to be anything left of the money when they got back, and they still had important bills to pay. This was probably the reason Sakaki suggested it in the first place. Still, Kenichi was right that it was dangerous to leave him alone.

"Ranma, I know you just got here, but would it be too much to ask for you to watch Kenichi until he's finished with his training?" Miu asked quickly.

"Sure, no problem," Ranma replied. "I can just get a bit of exercise myself, work up an appetite for that party."

"Thank you," Miu replied bowing as quickly as she could manage without it being rude before turning to chase after the retreating crowd before they lost her.

* * *

Ranma was glad to be getting some of the respect he deserved. A master at a dojo before he turned eighteen … at least if you looked at his age the right way. He was certain that was sooner than Ryoga had done it, and he was practically given a dojo rather than earning it like Ranma had. Besides, looking at some of the other masters, this dojo was _way_ better than the Tendo dojo.

"Can you get me out of this?" Kenichi pleaded with him, breaking him from his thoughts mere moments after everyone else was out of sight.

"Didn't your masters want you to keep this up for a while?" Ranma asked.

"Are you kidding?" Kenichi asked. "I could get skewered in a dozen places and bleed to death with one mistake. This training is insane. Why do they even need this death trap? I could hold these weights just fine without it."

"Doesn't look so bad to me," Ranma told him skeptically, having been through worse himself, and that was just the training he'd willingly been put through. "Besides, if you're giving up already maybe you need a little extra motivation."

"Just get me down already!" Kenichi complained very nearly injuring his right arm as it all but trembled in the force of his yell.

"Yeesh, alright already," Ranma told him, starting to dismantle the contraption, then gathering up the weights in his arms and setting them down.

Ranma was a little surprised by just how heavy they were. Nothing he couldn't handle, but Kenichi was shirtless, and while obviously in good shape, he didn't look to be the muscle bound type like Ryoga. And from what he'd seen of him fighting, he wouldn't have expected his ki to be able to enhance them enough to hold that weight for long, if at all. Either he'd underestimated him a bit, or he wasn't being quite as much of a baby about training as he'd first though.

Ranma started to make small talk while Kenichi lay on the ground resting. Mostly he learned a bit about everyone that lived at the dojo. He'd try to get proper introductions when they returned, but at least now he knew all of their names. They didn't have time for too many details before the large gate opened again.

"They're back already?" Kenichi queried, sitting up quickly and looking at the dismantled training equipment guiltily.

But Kenichi had worked himself up over nothing as the person entering wasn't anyone from the dojo.

"Ranma? What are you doing here?" Ranko asked. "This is Ryozanpaku, right?"

"Yeah, but shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Ranma asked. "I help run this dojo now."

"I'm looking for someone calling themself Tendo Ranko," she answered, and Ranma immediately froze up.

He'd been so surprised to see her he hadn't even considered how much of a mess her being her could be.

"I haven't seen her since we got back from the tournament, but maybe Ranma knows more," Kenichi answered before Ranma could think of a way out of this.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked quickly forcing a small laugh that sound strained even to his ears. "This is Tendo Ranko right here."

"What?" Kenichi asked in confusion. "Then what about the red-haired girl we keep running into?"

"I've seen no such girl," Ranma insisted. "And I don't have a clue who she might be either."

"You must have seen her," Kenichi replied, brow furrowed in concentration. "You know, when we ... I mean back at the ... you know, I can't recall ever seeing the two of you together."

"Ah ha ha, of course not, because I have nothing to do with whoever this person is," Ranma told him, thinking he might have found his way out of this.

"Not so fast, you obviously know something," Ranko declared. "Genma does have something to do with this, doesn't he? And you know what it is."

Ranma really should have worked on his ability to hide things after the Gambling King if nothing else. It might not have much combat implications, since he never had any problems with concealing those plans, but he'd lost count of how many times it would have saved his hide on a personal level.

"I'm as much in the dark as you are," Ranma said, as innocently as he could manage, which didn't seem to be nearly enough, as even Kenichi was looking at him suspiciously now.

"She's right, you do know what this is about, don't you?" Kenichi queried. "So spill it."

Ranma's mind raced furiously hoping he could still find a way out, but he was coming up empty. Sighing, he decided to just give it up. Ranko would hardly be the first person to find out about his curse, he just hoped she took it better than her mother had.

"Fine, you deserve to know, Ranko," Ranma conceded. "But this has nothing to do with you, Kenichi, so give us some privacy."

"Oh no, you can't get me worked up like this and then expect me to forget about it," Kenichi declared, standing up. "If you don't tell me I'll never let it go. I'll bring the masters into it if I have to."

"Fine," Ranma conceded, "but you have to promise to help me keep it a secret."

"I'm not going to promise anything before I hear what it is," Kenichi argued.

"You owe me for pulling out of our match," Ranma snapped back, not going to let himself be completely walked over.

"It's not anything illegal is it?" Kenichi asked him.

"No, just something personal I don't really like being spread around," Ranma answered.

"Alright then, I suppose I do owe you," Kenichi agreed. "I promise that if you tell me I'll help you keep it a secret."

"Well I'm not promising anything," Ranko cut in. "Now hurry up and explain."

"Alright, I assume you have running water inside, right?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, but what that have to do with anything?" Kenichi asked.

"You'll see," Ranma told him with a smirk.

* * *

Kenichi was still staring in shock, unable to fully process what he'd just seen. How could someone just change gender like that? Ranko was a bit more active in her doubts, seeming determined at first to prove it was some kind of trick. But after latching tightly onto his wrist, and switching him back and forth several times, she seemed to have finally accepted what her eyes were showing her.

"Jusenkyo curses are real?" she asked in awe.

The name immediately reminded him of the conversation back on Despair Island.

"Um, Ranma, I think the masters already figured out about your curse," Kenichi informed her … or him … or whatever. The way Ranma looked right now, Kenichi's mind couldn't help but think of Ranma as a female, whatever he knew about the curse. "They wouldn't explain it to us, but they were mentioning Jusenkyo when talking about you."

"Well, I'm glad they're not spreading it around, because I'm still holding you to that promise," Ranma told him. "Don't tell anyone that doesn't already know."

Kenichi was already regretting that promise. How was he supposed to keep quiet about something as groundbreaking as proof that magic actually existed?

"Okay, I admit this explains a lot, but why were you using my name for your cursed form?" Ranko asked Ranma.

"I'm sorry about that," she said. "It was just the first thing that popped into my head. I mean I was using that name since … um … before I even met you."

The oddness of that statement and the look Ranma gave her convinced Kenichi there was more to the story, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The explanation was probably just as crazy as the curse, and he wasn't certain his mind could take another shock like that today.

"I'm sorry, this is just too much to take in," Ranko declared, clearly feeling much the same about the recent revelation. "I'm going to head home now."

Getting up in a daze, Kenichi watched her walk off, being enough out of it himself that he didn't even realize she was going the wrong way until she was already reaching out to open the door to Shigure's room.

"Stop!" he tried to warn her, knowing there were traps set to try to keep Ma-sensei out. His warning didn't get through to her in time as she continued sliding the door open, but Ranma seemed to have taken heed as a blur sped past him.

Ranko was tackled by the red-haired martial artist just as a swarm of kunai flew past where she'd been standing a moment earlier.

"If you're this out of it maybe it's safer if you stay here until you calm down," Ranma told her far more cheerfully than Kenichi would have expected considering how close they'd both just come to serious injury or worse.

"Well excuse me if I get a little shaken up by learning that everything I've believed all my life is wrong!" Ranko snapped at her, all but shoving the other girl off her as she got back to her feet.

Ranko looked like she was going to continue her tongue-lashing but came up short and instead reached out to grab Ranma's left arm.

"You're hurt," she said in concern, as Kenichi made his own way over.

"It's just a scratch," Ranma said, quickly pulling the arm away, and letting Kenichi get a quick glimpse in the process.

It wasn't exactly gushing blood, but there was enough of it that Kenichi doubted he would call it a scratch.

"These weapons aren't poisoned are they?" Ranma asked him.

"What?" Kenichi queried, surprised someone would even ask that. Who would poison the weapons they … had set up in a potentially fatal trap. Okay, maybe it wasn't so silly. "Shigure has never poisoned them before."

"See, I'll be fine," Ranma told her.

"You didn't have to do that," Ranko told him, all of her former hostility gone.

"Don't worry about it," Ranma replied casually. "There are only two .. maybe three people I would have let get pincushioned by those things, and you're not one of them."

"Well … anyway … I'm not going to set off any more traps on the way out of here, am I?" Ranko asked, looking around herself warily.

"Here, just follow me," Ranma told her before Kenichi could answer, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along with Kenichi trailing behind them.

Ranko followed the other girl without protest as she was led outside to Ryozanpaku's gate before she was released.

"You really do seem to be zoning out," Ranma told her, noticing she hadn't made a sound as she was lead along. "You sure you don't want me to take you home or something? Make sure you get there safely?"

"I have my phone," Ranko replied. "I was able to find my way here, so I can find my way back."

"If you say so," Ranma told her, casually pressing open the gate with one arm and holding it for her.

Without another word, Ranko slipped out and disappeared down the road.

"Man, she didn't even say thanks," Ranma griped, letting the gate close itself. "Probably going to get lost on the way back too."

It struck Kenichi as a little odd that she was grumbling about a lack of courtesy but hadn't once complained about the potentially lethal traps in the dojo. Kenichi was beginning to think Ranma was going to fit in well with the masters, even if she had been conned into joining them.

"Ah, I should probably change back before anyone else shows up," Ranma declared, heading back for the dojo.

"Shouldn't you bandage your arm first?" Kenichi asked.

"Oh yeah," Ranma said, looking down at the still bleeding limb. "I forgot about that."

Yeah, he would fit in just fine.

* * *

With the dinner rush over, Reiko was clearing tables while one lone straggler was finishing up his meal. If no one else showed up in the next few minutes, she'd be done helping out early tonight. Of course as soon as the thought crossed her mind, someone else walked in. Although rather than a customer, it turned out to be Ranko, hardly seeming to notice where she was as her eyes stared blankly ahead.

"Run along upstairs with Ranko," Cologne said, noticing the girl's state herself. We can finish up here without you.

"You heard Granny," Reiko told her, leading an unusually compliant Ranko upstairs to her room.

She shut the door behind her, eager to hear what had her friend in a funk. Not wanting to press the issue when her friend looked so distraught, she simply let her eyes wander around the room. By design it was a very ordinary room for a Japanese school girl. A few stuffed animals, a computer set up at her desk, a neatly made bed, and the rest of a fairly standard set of furniture and knicknacks. She had enough trouble being considered odd by her friends without hanging weapons on her wall like her mother did.

Having seen the room countless times, it couldn't occupy her attention for long, so the lack of any forthcoming conversation wore out her patience very quickly.

"So what did you find out at Ryozanpaku?" Reiko asked.

"Jusenkyo curses are real," Ranko blurted out, her formerly glassy eyes now focusing on Reiko as the question had pulled her mind back to the present.

"Oh, is that all," Reiko responded, letting out a relieved sigh. "I've told you before that Granny has all sorts of little magic trinkets. Serves you right for not believing me. Wait, how did you find out? Did Mousse try something?"

"Mousse has a curse?" Ranko quickly asked in reply. "Does anyone else have one?"

"Yeah, Mousse turns into a duck," Reiko told her. "And lots of other people have curses, but he's really the only one we know who still has one. Or at least that's what I thought. If it wasn't Mousse, who was it that convinced you?"

"Ranma," she answered simply.

"Ranma has a curse?" Reiko questioned in shock. "What does he turn into?"

"A hot redhead," Ranko replied.

"Wait, you mean the fake Tendo Ranko was Ranma?" she inquired, getting a nod from Ranko.

That meant that she had defeated Ranma in a fight. And he'd even had help at the time. She didn't know why he'd held back so much in their first match, but that wasn't going to stop her from rubbing it in his nose the next time they met.

"Wow though, a good-looking girl who's into other girls and she turns out to be a guy? You must have been devastated." Reiko quipped.

"Actually, it might be better this way," Ranko said, blushing a bit as she did.

That brought Reiko up short.

"You can't mean what I think you mean by that, can you?" Reiko all but demanded of her.

"And why not?" Ranko replied a bit peevishly. "It's probably the only way I can openly date a girl without my parents knowing that I'm dating a girl."

"You know I've never tried to push my way into something this personal before," Reiko told her friend, "but don't you think it might be better just to tell your parents the truth? They're good people. It's not like they're going to disown you."

"I know they wouldn't go that far," Ranko agreed. "My dad's always been a bit old-fashioned though. He'd try to be supportive, but I know it'd make him at least a little uncomfortable. And knowing him, he'd just try to compensate by being _too_ supportive. Because that's what every girl wants is a father constantly butting into her love life just to prove how completely okay with it he is. Whatever happened, I'm sure it would be awkward between us for much longer than I'd like."

"And lying to him is better?" Reiko asked. "If you'd just talk your concerns over with your father, I'm sure you could work something out."

"You'd probably be right, eventually," Ranko admitted, "and if it was just him I'd agree with you. But my mother is the bigger worry. More than once I've heard her opinion on 'perverts.' I know she loves me and she'd never abandon me or anything like that. I'm just terrified she'd spend the rest of her life trying to 'cure' me. Things might be awkward with my dad, but it could completely ruin my relationship with my mom."

Reiko didn't know how to respond to that. She'd known about Ranko's preferences for a few years now, but she'd never known about Akane's opinions on the subject. She thought Ranko had kept her them secret out of fear of how the kids in school would act.

"So this is an opportunity I never thought I'd have," Ranko continued. "My parents will just see me dating a guy and don't need to know what happens behind closed doors."

It was Reiko's turn to blush, not expecting her friend to imply such a thing as openly as that.

"Don't forget that he would need to agree to anything of the sort," she reminded Ranko.

"Isn't every guy supposed to have lesbian fantasies?" Ranko queried, actually sounding like it was a serious question.

"How am I supposed to know?" Reiko fired back, getting even more uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. "Besides even if that's true, I doubt it involves them being one of the girls."

"You could try to be a little more supportive," Ranko grumbled. "You keep trying to talk me out of it and you're going to make me think you're interested in Ranma too."

Reiko froze at that, trying to think of a response that wouldn't be taken the wrong way, but she didn't come up with one fast enough, as Ranko's eyes widened for a moment before her face darkened.

"So that's how it is?" she said accusingly. "You go on and on about how you want nothing to do with Ranma but still think you have a right to stop anyone else from making a move?"

"It's not like that," Reiko protested, trying to calm Ranko down. "It was only recently that I started thinking the situation over instead of just fighting it. Mom and Granny have chased off every boy I've shown the slightest bit of interest in for being too weak. Well, here's a guy they want me to marry. They're hardly going to stop me from going out on a date with him. Considering most guys in our school are too afraid to even speak to me after what Mom did to the last guy, this may be my only chance to have my first date before I graduate from high school."

"Going on a date?" Ranko spat out, actually looking angrier. "I'm trying to find a life partner who won't tear apart my family, and you want to get in my way so you can try your hand at dating?"

"You're twisting my words," Reiko argued.

"Oh woe is me, I can only date skilled martial artists," Ranko mocked. "Well forgive me if I think those are a little easier to find than someone who can switch back and forth between male and female."

"That doesn't matter now," Reiko snapped back, getting a little angry herself at Ranko's tirade. "They already consider me married to Ranma, so they won't accept anyone else now. And if all you care about is a curse, I'm sure Granny can get you some Jusenkyo water and you can douse whomever you like."

Ranko was taken aback for a second at having some heat directed back at her, but seemed to be quickly building back up to another angry retort.

"Stop!" Reiko insisted before anything further could be said. "This is stupid. I'm hardly in love with Ranma and I'm pretty sure you're not either."

"Well, no ..." Ranko admitted.

"Exactly," Reiko quickly added. "Both of us want to see what happens. So we shouldn't get so upset over this when there's a good chance at least one of us will decide he's not the right person for us. Not to mention that Ranma has a say in all of this as well. I'll tell you though, I never thought I'd be fighting with you over a guy."

"Ranma is half girl," Ranko said stubbornly, but couldn't resist a smirk a moment later. "But I do admit it is kind of funny."

"Yes, so let's just sit down and work out a reasonable solution," Reiko suggested.

"Sure, but how about tomorrow?" Ranko replied. "Too much has happened already today, and I just need a night to sleep on it."

"That sounds great," she confirmed, glad they were able to smooth things over before they got too out of hand. "I guess I'll go see if they still need any help closing shop."

The two girls left her room and headed downstairs, finding her granny waiting for them at the bottom.

"Glad to see you're finally starting to come around regarding your husband," the ancient woman declared happily. "Don't worry, I'm more prepared for how to get through to the boy this time around. We'll have him eating out of your hand in no time."

"You were eavesdropping?!" Reiko asked, full of righteous indignation. "That was a private conversation!"

Reiko was expecting her friend to be right beside her with a fury of her own, but she saw that the girl was instead as white as a sheet.

"You won't say anything to my parents, will you?" Ranko all but begged.

"Don't worry, I'm much better than the two of you are at keeping a secret," her granny boasted. "I haven't even told Shampoo that part."

Speaking of her mother, she chose that moment to walk out of the kitchen carrying a large box. There were no customers left in the building and the tables already seemed to be cleared, so her purpose wasn't immediately evident. Reiko's curiosity only grew as she started gathering up various items and stuffing them into the box.

"What are you doing, Mom?" she asked

"Packing for the move, of course," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're moving?" Ranko asked in shock.

"This is the first I've heard of it," Reiko insisted.

"What do you expect?" her granny asked. "I know of this Ryozanpaku and it's a bit far from here. Better for the relationship if you're living closer to son-in-law. So we're moving the Nekohanten."

"We can't just leave at the drop of a hat," Reiko protested. "What about all my friends here?"

"You only have a year of school left anyway," she answered. "Besides, this is the modern world. You can keep in touch."

"What about Dad?" Reiko asked, looking for a way out. "He has the dojo here, and there's no way he'll be okay with this."

"He's off training for his next big duel with Ryoga," her mom replied. "We'll see to it that he comes around when he gets back."

He did have to pick the worst time to disappear. How was she supposed to put a halt to this on her own? Sure she'd decided she at least wanted to go out a few times with Ranma and see what came of it, but she didn't want to uproot her whole life and move to another district to do it. Reiko looked back to where Ranko was standing, hoping to get some support from her, but saw no sign of her friend.

"She already left," her granny informed her. "Now, why don't you get to work helping out? I want us ready to leave bright and early in the morning."

* * *

Ranko walked into her house sullenly, not even bothering to call out a greeting. As long as Reiko was interested in Ranma, she really didn't have a chance. She had a better figure, exotic purple hair, had family working hard to see she got together with Ranma, and would actually be living in the same district as him. Cologne was almost worse than the proximity though. She knew how manipulative the old woman could be, and there were very few people who could stop her from getting whatever she wanted.

"And where have you been?" her mother asked warmly as soon as she'd entered, but her tone quickly changed to concern as she continued. "What's wrong, Ranko?"

She shouldn't have been surprised it was so obvious that she was in a poor mood.

"I just got back from Reiko's place," she told her, trying to decide how much she wanted to admit. "But before that I was in another district looking into something Reiko had told me. I actually ran into Ranma while I was there."

"If Ranma's involved I'm sure it's quite the mess you got into," her father said with a sigh. "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us what happened."

"There's not a lot to say," Ranko answered, deciding to keep most of it to herself. "It's just that Reiko is moving away. Her mom and Cologne have decided to transplant the whole restaurant to chase after Ranma."

"Really now," Akane said, clearly frustrated herself. "Shampoo has gotten a lot better, but she still doesn't know proper restraint. Then again, this was probably Cologne's work more than hers."

"Of course that's not the only thing that's got you so worked up, is it?" a new voice added, and Ranko's eyes darted over to where she saw her Aunt sitting in a chair.

"Aunt Nabiki?! What are you doing in Japan?" she asked in shock.

"I was just telling your parents about how I managed to get Ranma released from the Government's Paranormal Agency," she replied. "They finally admitted that despite all the magic around him, he's not a threat to Japan's safety. So with him around again, I figured things were going to be a lot more interesting around here, and I didn't want to miss it. But I digress. The fact you only just noticed I was here proves my point. You wouldn't be this down if it were just a matter of Reiko moving. Let me guess. Saotome is working his charms again and you find yourself wishing you were going with her for more reasons than one?"

"What?!" her father all but choked out at her Aunt's suggestion.

"Is that true, Ranko?" her mother asked a little more calmly but still quite surprised.

"It doesn't matter if it is," she answered. "Reiko decided she's not so opposed to getting together with him after all. I'm not sure it's worth competing with her over him, but even if I decided I wanted to, what chance would I have from here?"

"If you're really interested, then I wouldn't give up so easily," her aunt told her. "After all, he may just be the perfect match for you."

Nothing in her tone indicated there was any deeper meaning to her words, yet she couldn't help but feel Nabiki was referring to the curse. Far too often over the past few years there had been things said that seemed perfectly innocuous, but could be taken to mean she knew her biggest secret. Maybe she was just being paranoid about this, but it was her aunt she was speaking of. That's right; it was her aunt. Aunt Nabiki was probably the only person she knew who might be able to match wits with Cologne.

"Now let's not rush into anything here," her father cautioned.

"What happened to your sense of adventure, Ryoga?" Nabiki mocked, turning back to Ranko "If you're interested, just say the word, and I'll see to it you have a fair shot at Ranma. I'll even give you the family discount."

Ranko smiled at her aunt's old joke of calling it the 'family discount' when offering help for free. Still, as upset as she'd been, did she want to accept the offer? She didn't know what her aunt planned, but it was likely to be quite drastic.

"We'll support you whatever you decide," her mother promised, sending a quick look at Ranko's father to make sure he didn't argue.

She paused to consider it for a moment, but there really only was one answer.

"I am interested," she told her.

"Great," Nabiki answered with a smile. "Then just sit back and watch me work my magic."

* * *

Kenichi watched as the shopping expedition returned, bearing a large supply of food and beverages. If Kenichi weren't still half in a state of shock, he'd probably be getting excited about the coming meal, much as Ranma now was. The cursed boy had been left plenty of time to change back and bandage his wound while they'd been waiting. He'd even changed into a shirt that wasn't sliced open and bloodstained, and was now practically hovering over the various bags of groceries.

He wasn't left to do so for long as Miu went to work putting them away and then left to start work cooking dinner. Throughout the whole process Kenichi just sat there by the table trying to rearrange his view on physics and what was outside the realm of possibility. He wasn't sure how long he would have continued if Shigure hadn't stood next to him with her back to the table and leaned sideways until her face was right in front of his, mere inches away.

"You're quiet," she said simply. "Is something wrong?"

Kenichi almost fell over trying to slide backwards so they weren't so uncomfortably close. Double checking to make sure Miu wasn't in the room in order to keep his promise he directed his response to all the masters.

"You were talking about Ranma's curse," he said. "You knew something this big and you didn't say anything?"

"So he's told you, has he?" Akisame mused. "Well, it wasn't really our place to say."

"Glad you feel that way, because I don't want you spreading it to anyone else," Ranma cut in forcefully.

"Don't worry, I understand perfectly," Kensei declared, as the small man walked over to Ranma. "A curse like that would lose much of its value if the girls knew you were really a guy. It's the perfect disguise. Now if I got you a camera, you'd be willing to share some of the bounty, right?"

"Like I'm going to use it for that," Ranma said sharply. "I'd cure myself in an instant if I could."

"Of course," glancing over at where Shigure was busy inspecting several of her weapons, then turning back to Ranma and winking. "That was merely a test. I'm glad you have such fine moral character."

"Is it time to eat yet?" Apachai asked out of nowhere, putting a quick end to that conversation.

It was still some time before the food Apachai wanted arrived, but the wait, and the meal itself, was much in contrast to the rest of his time with Ranma by how uneventful it was. Nothing but a bit of small talk. No major revelations or mind-shattering truths. Just a little bit of getting to know about each other. The food was great though. Better than anything he'd had in weeks at the least.

Of course, no sooner had he finished it than he was yanked back outside for further training because they were disappointed he hadn't kept up his work until they'd returned. Much later he returned to the dojo, so exhausted he decided to go straight to bed. He found Ranma already in the room, just laid out on the hard floor with no blankets or anything and wearing nothing but a white undershirt and a pair of boxers. Oddly enough, Kensei was standing over the sleeping boy watching him.

"There you are, Kenichi," he said in a whisper. "I was waiting for you."

"What for?" Kenichi whispered back.

"Watch this," Kensei replied as his hand blurred and came back into view a moment later clutching the undershirt Ranma had just been wearing. All this without disturbing Ranma.

"How did you do that?" he asked, still making sure to keep quiet.

"Trick I picked up from an old acquaintance," he answered.

Kenichi still didn't know what the man was up to, but then his eyes spotted what was in his other hand. A glass of what appeared to be water. He knew he should call out a warning, or stop him, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do anything but watch as the glass was slowly tipped, dumping water onto a chest that very quickly expanded outward.

Ranma's cursed form was _very _impressive. Kenichi was mesmerized at seeing those assets laid bare. Some corner of his mind took note of the angry face just above them, but that remained far from his conscious thought. At least until a yell cut through the hormone laden fog.

"What are you two idiots doing?!" Ranma shouted angrily, but thankfully still not bothering to actually cover her breasts.

As such, Kenichi still was unable to pull his eyes away until the sound of running gave way to Miu entering the room.

"Ranko, what are you doing here?" she asked. "And why are you half naked?"

"Believe me, I didn't do this on purpose," Ranma told her, as she yanked the undershirt away from Kensei and put it back on. "These two perverts decided to strip me while I was sleeping."

Kenichi's blood ran cold at the look Miu was giving him.

"Is that so?" she asked icily.

"I didn't have anything to do with that," Kenichi insisted. "It was all Ma-sensei!"

"Hmm, that's funny," the diminutive master responded. "I don't recall you so much as protesting, even when I took off her shirt. In fact, you just sat there staring and trying your best not to wake her."

"But … but …," Kenichi began, trying to think of something he could say to defend himself without breaking that stupid promise he'd made. "It's not at all what it sounds like."

"Well then, you'll just have to tell me what it is, won't you?" Miu fired back, clearly not buying his story.

It just wasn't fair that he couldn't tell her what was really going on.

"So what'd you do with the rest of my clothes?" Ranma asked.

"Hmm, I have no idea where they've gotten to," Kensei answered. "But I'm sure Miu would be glad to lend you some. In fact, maybe she'd even let you stay with her tonight to protect you from perverts like us."

"That's a great idea!" Miu said, suddenly excited, as she started pulling Ranma away. "I've never had a friend sleep over before."

"No need," Ranma quickly, sounding pretty stressed out by the idea. "I don't actually live all that far from here. I can just go home for the night. In fact, I didn't even mean to fall asleep here, just kind of dozed off."

"Nonsense," Miu said, brushing aside all of her protests. "It's already so late. You can head back in the morning. Besides, this will be fun!"

Ranma was practically dragged from the room and the pair was soon out of sight.

"Why did you hide Ranma's clothes?" Kenichi asked.

"Use your head boy," he told him. "It would look suspicious if she were to put on the same clothes she'd just been wearing as a guy."

"And why'd you suggest she sleep with Miu?" Kenichi asked, angrily.

"That was just my way of thanking her for show," he said with a smile. "Getting to sleep in the same room with Miu and probably watch her change? I think that makes us even."

Kenichi felt his face flush simply imagining it. Just for tonight, Kenichi really wished he could swap places with Ranma.

* * *

Ranma almost thought she'd found a way to get out of this mess when she first entered Miu's room. There was no way she was sleeping in a room with that many cat pictures and stuffed animals. She tried to use that an excuse to finally get away. But the look on Miu's face when she thought Ranma would leave was enough that she found her feet unwilling to move as she waited by the door while Miu was busy hiding all the offending items. She knew she should run away, but her body wouldn't listen to her.

While she waited, she wondered if she was as bad as Ryoga, using her cursed form to sleep with a girl. But it's not as if she would be sleeping between her breasts or anything. Plus, she'd make sure not to watch if Miu changed, and really, sleeping in the same room shouldn't be anything to get worked up over.

So she soon found herself lying on the floor in a spare futon listening as Miu went on and on about how happy she was to have someone staying over and how exciting this all was. She got pretty worried for a while that this would turn into some sort of girly slumber party, but thankfully Miu really didn't seem to know what to do either, so it was mostly just a lot of small talk, with Ranma doing her best not to give away who she really was.

"Honestly now, what's the relationship between you and Ranma?" Miu asked, startling Ranma with the sudden change of topic.

Was she starting to suspect they were the same person? What had she said to give that away? Oh man, she was going to be furious if she found out Ranma had been using her curse to sleep in the same room as her.

"Why would you ask that?" Ranma inquired, trying unsuccessfully to play it cool. "There's obviously no relationship at all."

"Ranko, I heard all about it from Castor, or Rachel I guess her name is," she continued. "So there's no need to hide it."

Rachel knew too? When did she find out? Did Sehrul tell her or something?

"Fine, it's true then. But could you please not tell anyone else?" Ranma asked her hoping there might be a few people she could still pretend to not be a freak around.

"Don't worry, I'm on your side, now more than ever," Miu told her. "After all we're friends now. I'll do my best to help you out."

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me," Ranma admitted, both surprised and grateful that she wasn't angry at the deception.

"Just wait," Miu told her, "we'll have Ranma convinced you're the one for him in no time."

What? Oh! She thought that her Tendo Ranko alias had fallen for her real self. That's what she'd been talking about. Well, better she thought that than knew the truth, considering the situation they were in right now. And what was the harm? She could hardly try do much to get them together when they couldn't actually be together at the same place. Good thing she hadn't let the truth slip out in the confusion.

"Anyway, I need to get to sleep if I'm going to get up to make breakfast in the morning," Miu informed her. "But we really need to do this again sometime."

"Yeah, I'll have to see what I can do," Ranma answered, hoping she didn't catch on to the fact she had no intention to repeat this if she could avoid it. Nothing against Miu, it just didn't seem right if she could avoid it.

She quickly drifted off, finding herself waking early than she would have liked. She was about to just roll over and go back to sleep when she remembered exactly where she was. Confirming that Miu was still asleep, she snuck out of the room, changed back to male, and hurried over to the building in the complex where he'd been told he'd be staying the first time.

Thankfully, he found his missing clothes laid out on the floor. Getting changed, he was glad he'd snuck out in time to avoid having to borrow one of Miu's outfits. Heading back over to the main building, he saw that he'd only just made it, as Miu was now up and searching the building.

"Have you seen Ranko around?" Miu asked.

"Ah, she never got a chance to tell her parents where she'd be, so she decided to hurry home," Ranma lied. "She didn't want to wake you, but she told me to thank you for having her over."

"What about her clothes?" Miu asked in worry.

"Oh those? I managed to get them back from old pervert," Ranma said, this time quite honestly.

"Ah, that's a relief," Miu declared. "Well, I guess I'll get started on breakfast."

The smells that soon came from the kitchen quickly drew a crowd, as the rest of the residents all filed in. As much as he always looked forward to meals, he was more excited about his first day of training with Ryozanpaku's martial artists.

"So," he began, while the food was still being prepared, "I noticed during the tournament that Kenichi here gave off a similar aura when a I got close to him to what Reiko did. I figure you guys must have taught it to him. I want you to teach whatever it is to me too."

"Well, that depends on if you're even suited to be a Sei type martial artist," Akisame answered.

"Yeah, I saw you fight, and you know how to put some passion into it," Sakaki added. "You should just focus on Dou, like me."

"Passive, aggressive, I use whatever fits best for the moment," Ranma said with a shrug. "Can't I just learn both?"

"It's certainly possible," Akisame informed him. "However, the paths we're referring to go far beyond simply being passive or aggressive. Suffice it to say, that the styles run too counter to each other to use both at once. And since one is generally far more suited to one type than the other, it's best to focus their efforts on just one."

"The ability you want to learn is called the Seikuken," the Elder lectured. "To master it requires a great deal of mental control. If you're prone to giving in to your emotions or using them as a source of strength, I would recommend against attempting it."

"Control like this?" Ranma asked, activating the Soul of Ice and burying his emotions as deeply as he could.

"Ooh, that's pretty impressive," Kensei noted. "Although it's odd you're capable of that when you don't have any knowledge of more basic Sei abilities. By itself, it's fairly useless, so what was the purpose?"

"Oh, there was a very good reason for learning it," Ranma answered with a smirk, making a mental note to show off the Hiryu Shoten Ha sometime soon.

"Well, if you're cable of that, the Seikuken should be no problem," Akisame declared.

"I still think you should go with Dou," Sakaki said huffily.

"Apachai is sad he can't train someone who fights like Apachai too," the large muay Thai user said morosely.

"That's not it!" Sakaki insisted loudly. "It's just that Dou is better. That's all."

"Anyway, let's start training as soon as we're done with breakfast," Ranma suggested.

"I was going to work on Kenichi's physical conditioning then," Akisame suggested. "I'd suggest you join in and we can start on the Seikuken after."

"Don't worry, I make sure to stay in great shape," Ranma boasted. "I'd rather just start on the good stuff as soon as possible."

"The conditioning is 'good stuff'," Akisame argued, sounding slightly offended. "You're conditioning is hardly poor, but there's still much you could do to improve it. I can build up your body's strength well beyond its current levels."

"Even if that's true, I depend on speed and flexibility in my style," Ranma pointed out. "Don't want to be some big, slow, musclebound ox. So I just don't see the value."

"Does Kenichi look like such to you?" Akisame asked him. "Or for that matter do I?"

Ranma looked them over again, even though he already knew the answer. "Well no," he replied. "But Kenichi doesn't look like he's any stronger than me in the first place."

"Oh is that so?" Akisame asked. "Then how about this? Go along just for today while making sure not to enhance your muscles any more than Kenichi is doing. Then you can see for yourself just how well you compare."

Ranma would still rather be doing some real training, but he wasn't going to chicken out of a challenge like that.

"You're on!" he replied confidently. There was no way he was going to lose this one.

Breakfast was soon served, and Ranma plowed through it quickly, getting tempted to sneak a few bites of Kenichi's food off his plate when it looked like the boy was stalling too much. But soon enough it was finished and they were outside. Of course it was just his luck that they were delayed before they could start the challenge by a voice from the other side.

"Hey, someone unlock this thing," a someone called out.

Apachai was the first one there, pushing the gate open and letting in a bald man in a suit.

"Yasunaga-sensei!" Kenichi cried out it alarm. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmm, it seems my information was correct," the man declared, looking directly at Ranma. "Tell me young man: is it correct to say you're not registered with any school for the upcoming year?"

"Oh, I'm older than I look," Ranma said, which was quite true from the right perspective. "I'm done with school."

And he wasn't going to find anything to prove him wrong. It'd almost be funny if he did dig up his old Furinken records or something. Let him try to puzzle over the dates on those.

"That's odd, because I have school records right here that say otherwise," baldie insisted, holding out a piece of paper. "Ranma Saotome. Age 16. Furthest level of education: one year of high school."

"What? Let me see those?" Ranma insisted, tearing the paper away from the man and seeing a picture of himself and a bunch of data, including his birthday. Well his birthday with the year shoved forward more than two decades.

"Koetsuji-sensei," the annoying man said, turning now to Akisame. "I don't know what this delinquent had been telling you, but he still needs to attend a school. Since he's not registered anywhere else, I'll sign him up to attend with us. Please do see to it that he shows up. I'm glad at least that he's found someone like you. Hopefully you can be a good influence on him."

With that, the man walked away through the gate that Apachai was still holding open and leaving Ranma behind to fume.

"School?" Ranma yelled out. "I can't go to school."

"Did you actually graduate?" Kenichi asked him.

"Well … no," he admitted. "But it's pointless anyway. And after everything I've been through, I think I deserve a break here."

"Don't worry," Akisame told him. "The body can only take so much a day, and I can push yours to the limit even with time away for school."

"Ah, let's just get this started," Ranma responded, his mood ruined even if he wasn't willing to give in on the school issue just yet.

The training started off simple enough, if a little odd, as the two boys began tossing these very oddly shaped stone statues. Akisame called out to Ranma several times early on to reduce his ki usage. With how little the man wanting him using before he was satisfied, Ranma was starting to suspect he was being cheated. Still, Kenichi used too little for Ranma to sense just how much it was, so he'd just have to trust the man was fighting fair.

They progressed through a wide variety of different exercises, and sooner than he'd have thought possible, Ranma's mind was pulled away from the subject of school completely. He was tiring out far faster than he'd have expected, even aiding his muscles much less than usual. It was actually taking a good bit of a willpower to keep going, and Kenichi hadn't slowed down yet.

And from there, it only got worse. Barely four hours into his work he was dead tired, and only matching pure stubbornness with his absolute refusal to get shown up allowed him to keep going. Currently, they were running around the complex strapped down with weights that shouldn't have been enough to bother him, but as tired as he was, they certainly did. Even his stubbornness couldn't last him forever, and not wanting to admit it, Ranma still doubted his body was physically capable of much beyond a few more steps.

"Let's take a break here, it's about time for lunch," Akisame announced, leaving Ranma to fall to the ground as if he was a puppet whose strings had just been cut.

He'd been in much worse condition before, but as far as pure physical fatigue went, this was probably a new record.

"What a relief," Kenichi said as he sat down on the ground. "I don't know how much more of that I could have taken."

Ranma merely glared at him, while focusing his ki to try to recover strength as quickly as he could. He never said he wouldn't do that. Akisame was simply smirking at him, clearly aware of what he was doing but not saying anything. He'd probably even deliberately stopped it right at his limits just to make a point. Well, if he thought letting him save face like that would win him any brownie points, he was wrong. Just annoyed him all the more.

"Have you seen now the value of my training?" Akisame asked. "It's specifically designed to build just the right muscles in just the right way to give maximum strength without leaving them overly bulky."

Ranma wanted to deny his claim further, but the proof was right over there with Kenichi, who looked exhausted, but not so far he couldn't get back up and keep going for a while. Besides, as much as he hated being proven wrong, his desire to get the best training possible was even stronger.

"Okay, okay, you win," Ranma said. "I'll do your stupid training."

Still, he used the small bit of strength he'd recovered so far to force himself back on his feet, more to prove he could than anything.

"Good. We'll continue after lunch then," he replied.

"Lunch?" they heard Apachai yell out happily as the gate pushed inward letting him and Shigure in. "Apachai wants to eat at the new restaurant down the road."

"A new restaurant?" Sakaki asked curiously from where he was leaning against the dojo wall watching the proceedings. "I don't recall seeing anything like that being worked on. What kind of food do they serve?"

"Cat," Apachai answered helpfully, sending a small shiver up Ranma's spine.

"What?!" Miu yelled out in shock, having also made her way out to see what was going on.

"Not cat," Shigure correctly softly. "It's Chinese."

"Well then, there's no point in eating there," Kensei announced. "I can make better food than whatever third-rate fare some cheap restaurant decides to call Chinese."

"And to think I was just about to invite you all to a free meal to celebrate our grand opening," a new voice added, having snuck in front of Ranma, largely by staying below his line of sight.

"The old ghoul!" he and Kensei shouted almost in stereo.

Ranma quickly felt an impact on his head from that gnarled old staff of hers that he was in no condition to dodge. A second swing was aimed at Kensei, but he nimbly leaped back to avoid it.

"You've gotten too troublesome to punish properly," Cologne complained to the man.

"Well you've gotten too old to still be alive," Kensei retorted. "And what are you even doing here?"

"I already said that," she answered. "I came to offer son-in-law and friends a free meal at our restaurant. His wife is eager to see him again."

"W-w-wife?!" Miu stuttered out in response to that.

"Don't listen to her, we're not married!" Ranma quickly protested.

"Defeated the wrong girl in combat, did you?" Kensei asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and Reiko doesn't want anything to do with it either," Ranma pointed out. "So just drop it already and leave me alone!"

"Did I miss something?" Kenichi asked. "Because I have no idea what defeating a girl in combat has to do with marriage."

"It's not a difficult concept," Cologne told him. "She was defeated by an outsider. She gave him the kiss of marriage. Now they're married."

"We're not married!" Ranma shouted again. "How can me and Reiko be married when neither of us agreed to it?"

"Wait, Reiko?" Kenichi asked noting the name. "The same Reiko from the DofD tournament?"

"Oh, so that's where she disappeared to," Cologne said. "And am I wrong to assume you were there as well, son-in-law?"

"Sure was, and I beat Reiko again," he boasted.

"Did you now?" she replied. "You never cease to surprise me. Now hurry along, I've already started on lunch. Shampoo is capable enough, but if you want a real treat you'll need me in charge of the cooking."

"Like I'm going along with you," Ranma retorted. "We're just fine here."

"Actually, she did say that lunch was free," Miu pointed out.

"It's still not worth it," Kensei argued, leaving Ranma glad he had an ally in this.

"Don't be such a baby," Sakaki barked out. "Does the free part include drinks as well?"

"Of course," Cologne said with a smile.

"Then there's no way we can refuse," Sakaki said firmly.

It quickly became clear that Kensei was the only one with his back on this, and the two of them were unable to resist will of the rest of the crowd as they were all but dragged off toward the newly moved Nekohanten. Cologne was hardly the worst person to have followed him here, but he still strongly wished she hadn't.

* * *

Cologne decided she wasn't going to offer this sort of free meal to Ranma's new acquaintances very often, if ever again. Not that she was worried about how much they were eating. She'd amassed enough wealth over her long life that the profits or losses of this little business were inconsequential. No, it was the group itself that worried her. Of the adults that had come, every single one of them was a true master. Not to mention that their numbers included Furinji Hayato himself.

Three thousand years of history or no, she wouldn't look favorably of the odds of the entire Joketsuzoku village in a fight against this group. Being in a situation where she'd be so thoroughly outmatched should it come to blows was rare for her. And while she doubted that would happen, given how easygoing the crowd was, it was disconcerting nonetheless. But no so much as to distract her from the point of this whole endeavor.

She was doing her best to make Reiko and Ranma uncomfortable. Forcing them together as much as possible and hammering the marriage point whenever she could. This might seem like a failure to learn from her mistakes, as it hadn't exactly worked very well with Shampoo, but Akane was proof enough that it wasn't her actions that had been to blame for that. After all, their fool fathers had, if anything, pushed even harder.

No, the key was the difference between Akane and Shampoo, and if she knew Reiko, her own reactions would be much closer to the former's, than they were to her own mother's. Now, deciding she'd made the two of them more than miserable enough, it was time to test just how well she knew her great-great-granddaughter.

"Shampoo, come and help me out for a minute in the kitchen," she ordered as she entered the specified room herself.

Shampoo quickly obeyed, not that Cologne actually needed her. No, this was on Reiko. She just hoped the girl was smart enough to realize what needed to be done with this opportunity. She should strike while the iron was hot and solidify herself in his mind as a friend and ally rather than an overly determined suitor. Having stalled in the kitchen long enough, she figured it was time go check on the young, soon-to-be couple, at least if all went according to plan.

"Oh, and where has son-in-law disappeared to with my great-great-granddaughter?" Cologne openly asked, glad to see neither of them present.

"They snuck out the back the moment you were out of sight," Kensei replied with a smirk. "Can't say I blame them for wanting to get away from a dried up old mummy like you either."

Her staff lashed out toward the nearby man, who once again dodged back away from it, but having expected that this time, she redirected it, instead tipping his bowl of ramen and spilling the contents.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that," she said completely without any real remorse. "Then again, you probably didn't want to eat the third-rate fare our cheap little restaurant serves anyway."

His frown made clear her victory in this round, although it was the other person in the room sending her a nasty look that she was more interested in. Furinji Miu had been giving her one much like it almost from the start, apparently not appreciating her meddling in Ranma's love life. The girl had a nice bit of fire to her, and was obviously quite skilled. She'd love to have her in the tribe, even without the bonus of bringing in the blood of the so-called invincible superman.

She'd be seriously tempted to send back to the village for an eligible young male if the girl weren't so obviously already besotted with the young boy next to her. No, she'd just have to focus on her primary matchmaking for now. And thankfully both her targets were proving quite easy to manipulate.

* * *

Reiko finally let up on her running, given that there was no sign of pursuit.

"Thanks for getting us out of there," Ranma told her. "I think Cologne may have even gotten pushier as she aged."

"Believe me, I hated it as much as you did," Reiko told him, realizing a moment later that her words might be taken the wrong way.

Ranma however, seemed completely unoffended, as he continued walking along.

"Well, what do we do now?" Reiko asked, honestly not having put any thought into it beyond getting out of there. "I don't exactly know the area."

"Hmm," Ranma said thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. "I know. Ucchan's isn't far from here. I haven't visited her in a while and seeing as I didn't get enough to eat back there it's two birds with one stone."

"That sounds fine," Reiko agreed.

As important a role as she played in the old stories, Reiko couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen the okonomiyaki chef. So she followed along as Ranma lead the way. It really was close by, as it only took a few minutes until they arrived at their destination, and they weren't even really hurrying there.

"Welcome to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki," came the greeting as soon as they entered, causing the both of them to stop in their tracks when they saw just who was greeting them.

"Ranko, what are you doing here?" Reiko asked.

"I felt bad for you having to come out here all alone," she answered. "So I figured, why don't I go along with you? Anyway, I'm working part time as a waitress in exchange for Ukyo letting me stay here."

Reiko doubted that was the only reason she was here, glancing over at Ranma, but she was genuinely glad to see her friend nonetheless. Besides, when she'd had time to cool down and think it over she had to conclude that Ranko wasn't even real competition for Ranma. Not that she was convinced she wanted to get serious with him or anything like that. Regardless, what Ranko was hoping to get from Ranma was just too ridiculous. What guy would agree to something like that?

"That is good to hear," she said, giving her friend a quick hug in greeting.

"If you're going to be sticking around, I guess this means I'll have admit to everyone that my cursed form isn't really Tendo Ranko," Ranma said with a sigh. "Don't know how I'm going to explain that one."

"Don't be too hasty," Ranko told him. "I already thought of that, and decided I'd do you a favor. I'm registered with the school as Ukyo's niece, Kuonji Hikari. You can just use that name when we're around anyone else."

"You don't have to do anything like that," Ranma replied quickly. "It's my fault anyway. I'll just have to deal with it."

"Too late for that now," she told him. "Like I said, I'm already registered under that name. It'd look weird if I changed it now. Besides, it could actually be kind of fun, almost like pretending to be someone else. Of course you still owe me a favor for this."

"But won't it be really weird to call me by your name whenever I end up in my cursed form?" Ranma asked.

"You could always just call him Ranchan," Ukyo suggested, as she came up behind Ranko. "That works for Ranko as easily as it does Ranma."

"Ooh, I think I may do just that," Ranko agreed.

"Great, now you'll have plenty of time to chat at school tomorrow," Ukyo told her. "Right now, _Hikari_ I need _my niece_ to get back to work. We've got quite the lunch crowd today."

"School starts tomorrow?" Ranma complained.

"You didn't know?" Reiko asked him, not expecting that to be a surprise for him.

"I wasn't planning to even go if I could get out of it," he told her. "That seems to have gotten shot down though."

"Well, take a seat up by the counter so we can chat while I work," Ukyo told him. "It is good to see you in person again, but I really am quite busy."

For her part, Reiko was quickly lost in thought. Actually registered under a false name? It had to be Nabiki behind that. And she'd never known the woman to back a lost cause. At least not if she couldn't get something out of it. Did Ranko stand more of a chance than she'd thought? Was there something Nabiki knew about Ranma that she didn't?

No, she was reading too much into it to think that, but her mind was awhirl trying to figure out exactly what Nabiki's plan was, and how that changed the dynamic of this whole thing. After going at it for a while she finally shook her head and mentally berated herself for getting so worked up over it.

She was acting like this was far more important than it was. No one had actually fallen for anyone else yet, and what were the odds that they'd end up in some sort of convoluted love triangle anyway? Odds are at least one of them would quickly decide they just couldn't stand Ranma anyway, if only for how rude and arrogant he could be.

With a clearer head now, she noticed that she was sitting down at the counter with an empty plate of food in front of her while Ranma and Ukyo were reminiscing over some story involving Kuno Kodachi and an alligator. She'd been even more out of it than she realized, as she didn't remember sitting down, much less eating anything.

"Ah, I really need to get back," she declared a little sheepishly. "I'm kind of supposed to be helping out at the Nekohanten right now. It is our grand opening."

"I guess I'll go with you," Ranma replied. "I want to get back to my training, and it is on my way."

"Come visit again soon," Ukyo told him, as they got up to leave.

"I'll see you both tomorrow at school," Ranko called out as well as she saw them departing.

The walk was just as short on the way back as it was in the first direction, and before they even got there, they could hear shouting. Shouting that Reiko soon realized she recognized both participants in, causing her to pick up her speed and hurry on ahead.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Reiko asked.

It wasn't the first time she'd heard her parents fight, but she never enjoyed it, and she couldn't recall them ever sounding so serious.

"You!" her father shouted, ignoring her in order to direct his rage at Ranma. "You think you can run away with my daughter? I'll kill you right now to put a stop to that notion!"

Reiko was terrified that her father might actually be serious, but thankfully her granny quickly blocked his path.

"This was amusing for a while, but it's gotten to be too troublesome," she told him. "Shampoo, you stay out here with them. Ryu, get inside. I'm putting an end to this nonsense."

"I'm not done here!" he insisted angrily trying to move around her but she froze him with just a look and a flash of her aura.

"I said get inside," she ordered again, in a much more dangerous tone.

"Fine," he said cooling down quite a bit as he slowly walked inside.

Reiko was quite surprised he did. She'd never seen her father back down like that to anyone, even when he wasn't so worked up. Made her wonder what her granny had done to get that kind of response from him.

"What's he so upset about anyway?" Ranma asked when her granny had followed her father inside. "Sure I beat him in that duel, but as far as I know I never did anything to make him hate me."

"I don't think it's you so much as your father," Reiko informed him. "After you disappeared, he got it in his head that he was going to adopt Ryu in the Saotome Clan and use him to join the schools. He did his best to break apart my parents, even showing up at their wedding and wrecking it."

"It was just a stupid ceremony anyway. We were already married," her mother said with a bit of the anger left over from her recent argument. But she quickly lightened up and even started to smile a bit as she continued. "It was actually one of the funniest things I've ever seen. He shows up as a panda, obviously drunk, and starts flipping benches and growling at the guests. He had half the audience in a panic before we even realized what was going on."

"Well, let's just say Dad didn't take it as well as Mom did," Reiko said diplomatically. "To this day he gets furious if Genma is so much as mentioned. I think some of that anger is just leaking over to you because you're his son."

"Seemed like more than a little leak," Ranma noted wryly. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised my old man is making things difficult for me again, though. Anyway, I'm going to head on back to the dojo. Tell him I said I'm not trying to steal his daughter, not that anyone ever listens in the first place."

With Ranma heading off, that left her little to do unless she could manage to overhear what was going on inside. She wondered how her granny planned to calm her father down.

* * *

"This has gone on far enough," Cologne told Shampoo's fool of a husband as soon as she'd followed him inside. "Whatever your feelings toward Genma, the boy is not his father. In fact, if you wanted to give the man another beating, he'd probably be right beside you adding to the carnage."

"It doesn't matter," Ryu argued. "I won't have Genma tied in any way to my family. It's bad enough that he's even still alive."

"Then you have my permission to keep him out," Cologne offered. "We can deny Genma access to everything related to Reiko. Besides, if you'd stop to consider this for one moment you'd realize something."

"And what's that?" Ryu asked, and she could tell she'd piqued his interest despite his anger.

"As you're painfully aware, Genma's greatest goal in life was the joining of the Saotome and Tendo lines," she explained. "Given that Ranko is the right age for marrying Ranma and showing interest in just such a union, he has a real shot of succeeding. Imagine how devastating it would be if the only Saotome left available married someone else instead. Especially into a family that would lock him away from his son, by violence if necessary."

She was pleased to see he was seriously considering her words, not that she expected otherwise.

"That still doesn't matter," he finally said, shaking himself from his thoughts. "As much as I hate the man, I'm not going to sell away my own daughter just to get at him."

"A noble sentiment," she told him quite honestly. "However, I've heard from the girl's own mouth that she has an interest herself. I suspect that interest is larger than she admits, even to herself."

After all, even ignoring Ranma's almost inexplicable ability to charm women, it was practically in the Joketsuzoku blood to fall for strong fighters. Ranma was the first guy her own age who could match up to her, which she should find very attractive. As for the girl's father, she could see he was getting close to caving but was still fighting on with whatever excuses his mind could muster. It was time to go in for the kill.

"If you insist on stopping it despite that …" she told him letting her words trail off a bit for dramatic effect, "well the world is full of teenage girls who came to hate their fathers for trying to drive them apart from the object of their desire."

The fear on his face made it clear she'd won before he even said anything. The man had many faults, but it couldn't be said he wasn't devoted to his family. Having his daughter hate him would probably be a fate worse than death in his mind.

"Fine," he conceded. "As long as she's going along with this of her own free will, I'll stand aside. But if she ever decides she wants out, you can be sure I'll put an end to this no matter what you say."

Well then, Cologne would just needed to ensure Reiko didn't decide she wanted out.

* * *

Most of the rest of Ranma's day of training had been devoted to more physical conditioning, but the Elder himself had taken him aside after dinner and started to train him in the Seikuken. It turned out to be a far more simple technique than he'd expected, and he got down the basics in a matter of minutes. He probably could have just figured it out on his own if he'd really put his mind to it.

He spent the rest of the day playing around with it and trying to improve his control. The range was limited and it was difficult to keep up at all when moving even at low speeds, so there was a lot left to work on. Still, he hadn't gotten as much sleep as he'd have liked last night thanks to the whole sleepover thing, so he turned in early figuring he could continue the next day.

Unfortunately, the next day he was woken up to a very unpleasant reminder. Today was the first day of school. All but being shoved out the door by the other masters and dragged along my Kenichi and Miu, he finally resigned himself to his fate. Anyway, he could just use the time each day to catch up on sleep or work on things he could do while seated, like Seikuken practice today.

"We'll have to get you a uniform as soon as we can," Miu declared, with him being the only one of the trio without one.

"I never wore one at my last school," he told them. "I don't see why I should start now."

"You really think they'll let you get away with that?" Kenichi asked him, and Ranma just shrugged in reply.

They were crossing into the school ground just then, and Ranma saw a collection of the Shinpaku Alliance guys standing there waiting. Ukita moved toward Kenichi immediately, but was brought up short when he recognized Ranma.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded to know, but was backing away from him despite his tough sounding words.

"Going to school," he answered. "You got a problem with that?"

"It's alright," Miu assured them. "He left Yomi."

Oh, right, that's why several of them looked so afraid of him. He'd forgotten about that.

"He may say that, but how do you know it's not a trick?" Nijima asked from his new position of using Kenichi as a human shield.

"I can't really explain it right now, but I think we can trust him," Kenichi told them, but most of the small crowd still didn't look terribly convinced.

Ah well, he couldn't blame them for being intimidated after seeing how amazing he was in his fight against Reiko.

"Well, I won't spoil your little reunion," Ranma told them give them a quick wave farewell, "so I'll catch up with you later."

Following the stream of students, he entered a large auditorium where a number of students were already milling around.

"Ranma, over here," he heard Ranko call out as she stood next to Reiko.

Making his way over to them he called out his own greeting. "Hey there, Ra-," he began his greeting getting interrupted by Reiko's foot stomping down on his own. She was as fast as ever getting over to him so quickly, but it saved him a slip-up this time.

"Really good to see you Hikari," he continued, remembering the alias this time. "You too Reiko."

He was glad he wasn't stuck trying to clear up the whole false name thing just yet, but this was going to take some getting used to.

"Where's your uniform?" Reiko asked him, getting a quick huff from Ranma.

"Is everyone going to pester me about that thing?" he said with no real heat. "What idiot invented uniforms anyway?"

"At least you get to wear the boy's uniform instead of getting stuck in a skirt," Ranko grumbled.

"Anyway, I can't believe I haven't asked yet, but what year are you in?" Reiko questioned him.

"He's a second year like me," Ranko answered for him. "We're actually in the same class."

That was news to him, but at least that was one person he knew.

"Of course he is," Reiko griped. "She's very thorough after all."

"Who is?" Ranma asked feeling like he was missing something.

"It's nothing," Ranko quickly assured him. "Anyway, it looks like they're about to start."

She was right as a slightly portly, dark-haired man with a well trimmed mustache took the stage.

"Everyone please be quite," he said through the speaker system. "The opening ceremony is about to begin. By the way, I have good news! Our school has started an exchange program. You'll have some foreign classmates for a while from Thailand, Russia, and America. Let's welcome them with a round of applause."

Four students took the stage, all of whom he recognized as members of Yomi. Had they been sent to hunt him down? If so they were underestimating him if they thought four of them would be enough. Still, Ethan was one of the four, so he'd try not to be too rough with them for his sake, if nothing else. It was his sister, however, that made the first move, as she grabbed the microphone away from man who'd just introduced them.

"Hi everyone!" she called out. "I'm the extremely charming girl from America, Rachel Stanley, second year! I've come here so I can go to the same school as my boyfriend, Saotome Ranma!"

As she pointed his way he feel the jealous stares of at least half the school's male populate instantly on him.

"Boyfriend?!" Ranko and Reiko cried out in surprise loudly enough to hurt his ears.

Ranma just groaned at that, hoping she was only messing with him again rather than actually chasing after him. Ah well, at least with Yomi here it might not be as boring as he originally thought.

* * *

Mousse couldn't believe Shampoo had made up with that fiend just like that. Everything had been going perfectly! Curse that ancient old crone! Couldn't she just die already? For the first in a long time he'd actually felt like he had some hope again, but seeing that plan fail was just devastating to him.

Enough to actually make him reconsider the plan he'd dismissed immediately the first time he'd thought of it. He hated the plan on principle, and there was still a much larger chance of failure than he'd like to admit, but if there were any other options left to him, he was failing to see them.

His most recent strategy having actually had a chance to work only made obvious to Mousse how futile the rest of his efforts had been for years now. There was just no lying to himself anymore. He only had two options.

Employ this one last-ditched scheme to win Shampoo's heart, or give up on her completely. It showed how pitiful he'd truly become that he actually considered the second option, at least for a moment. But no, without Shampoo his life was meaningless. He had to at least try.

* * *

**Notes:**

Bit of a wait this time, but I did keep it under a month, which I always try to do at minimum. Still, that might be difficult this coming month, which looks to be even busier than this one was. Don't worry though, I always find at least a little time to peck away at my next chapter no matter how busy I am, so progress will be made regardless.

As for the story itself, I've finally set up three girls who are at least marginally chasing after Ranma. That list is always subject to change, but any fewer than three and it would hardly be Ranma, would it? Anyway, I'm kind of surprised no one predicted Ranko's orientation, even if the hints I dropped were rather small. I think the largest one was when she said she'd be even more miserable than Reiko if someone were trying to push her together with Ranma.

Not much more to say, other than that things will get a bit more serious again very shortly, as you probably guessed yourself.


	6. An Important Decision

**Author's Notes:**

I knew this was going to be a long delay between chapters, but everything from work to Sandy, to the Holidays seemed to conspire to make it far longer than I'd anticipated. As a reward for your patience you get my longest chapter to date.

Before I begin, I'd like to remind you of one previous note. I'm basing this on the manga universe as much as possible. I may slip up on that from time-to-time, having seen the anime as well. But the most important part is that means no Nanban Mirror. This has come up before in a few PMs/reviews, so I just wanted to remind everyone.

Now, on to what you care about.

* * *

Rachel's declaration was still sinking into the crowd, and Ranma knew from experience he had to act quickly in a mess like this before people got the wrong idea.

"It's not true," Ranma quickly told Reiko and Ranko. "I know her brother, but I've hardly ever even talked to Rachel. She just seems to like messing with people."

"Of course if any of you boys think you'll make a better match, you're always welcome to try to convince me of that fact," Rachel added before the school official managed to convince her to hand back the microphone so they could introduce the rest of martial artists turned exchange students.

"Anyway, they're probably here to cause trouble," Ranma continued. "They're all part of a group I tagged along with a bit for the training, and I've been warned they don't usually take kindly to those who try to cut ties with them."

One bit of silver lining that came from getting stuck in the future was that even Rachel yelling out something like that didn't start a small scale war with him at the center. It wasn't even close to making up for everything he'd lost, but it was nice not to have every third girl he ran into deciding she was going to be the one to marry him.

"Are they anything to worry about?" Reiko asked him warily.

"Meh, as long as it's just the kiddie league they're sending, then no," Ranma told her. "Could get a bit rough if some of the real masters start showing up, but we can work out something if that happens."

In a way, Ranma kind of hoped they were out for his head. It just wouldn't feel like a proper school if none of the students were. Not to mention how bad an already dull school life would be if all he did there was listen to teachers drone on. Speaking of people who couldn't get enough of their own voice, this ceremony was really starting to drag on, and nothing after Yomi's introduction had caught his attention in the least. So when it finally finished, Ranma started weaving his way through the crowd to get out faster, but found his way blocked as Rachel and Miu both intercepted him from different directions.

"I hear that you haven't kept your promise from the tournament," Miu accused Rachel as soon as the two of them reached him. Reiko and Ranko had followed behind him, and he now found himself all but surrounded by the four girls. Experience taught him a situation like this almost never ended well.

"Oh that?" Rachel replied. "I made the whole thing up to make the tournament more exciting. I hardly even knew who Ranma was at the time."

Ranma was a bit shocked she had admitted that so easily, but certainly wasn't going to complain about it.

"It wasn't until after the tournament that we truly fell for each other and became a couple," she continued, reaching out and latching onto Ranma, holding him in a rather tight embrace that was getting him nasty looks from many of the male students still filing out. Okay, now Rachel had said something worth complaining about.

"That isn't true!" Ranma insisted, forcing himself free from her grasp and dancing away. "We're not a couple!"

"No need to be shy, darling," Rachel replied. "We should let the world know of our love! But it will have to wait for now. I have something to take care of before class."

Her leaving was probably the only thing that kept everything from really exploding. Then again, none of the girls around him were actually chasing after him, so maybe it hadn't been all that dangerous in the first place, as odd of a thought as that was.

"Could you run along to class?" Miu asked him after Rachel was gone. "I have something I'd like to discuss with Reiko."

"Sure," Ranma agreed, slightly curious about what it was but not enough to pry.

Well, time to find his class and see if the teachers here were someone more interesting than at Furinken. Not that he really had all that much hope they would be.

* * *

Reiko didn't know what to think of that Rachel girl. Ranma obviously wasn't the least bit interested in her, but her apparent craziness could easily become a major headache. And now there was this other girl, Miu she believed her name was, that wanted to talk with her. About what, she couldn't imagine. Reiko hadn't even directly spoken with her during that one brief visit to the Nekohanten. There was simply too much else going on.

"Do you need me to leave too?" Ranko asked from next to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced," Miu answered. "My name is Furinji Miu, and you don't have to leave. In fact, if you know Ranma, it'd be even better if you stayed."

"Konji Hikari," Ranko replied warmly. "And I know Ranma better than most people. His family has a long history with my aunt."

Ranko was doing a really good job of playing the part of her alias. She and Ranma had both come closer to slipping up than anything she'd seen from Ranko herself.

"Great," Miu replied. "Because I was hoping you could tell me a little more about Ranma, the sort of things he likes, what kind of girl he considers his type."

"Excuse me?" Reiko asked in surprise, worried that there seemed to be yet another person interested in Ranma. "Don't tell me you've fallen for him."

She must have been more thrown off by the question then she'd realized as she was now leaking out enough of an aura that the dwindling number of students still leaving the auditorium were giving them a wide berth.

"No, no, no, not me," Miu quickly assured her. "And I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject considering the situation with your village laws, but I just thought you made it clear you didn't want to marry Ranma."

"I don't," Reiko answered firmly. "I'm not going to marry someone just because they beat me in a fight."

"I'm sorry, but if you're not after Ranma, why are you asking about what king of girl he likes?" Ranko queried, looking a little tense herself.

"Because a friend of mine named Tendo Ranko is interested," Miu answered. "And I wanted to help them get together."

Reiko had a momentary spell of confusion before she realized it wasn't her friend Miu was talking about, but Ranma's cursed form. She didn't know how this little misunderstanding got started, but she was relieved that was all there was to it.

"And you said you know Ranma better than most people, so can you help me out?" Miu pleaded, directing her question to the real Ranko, who now looked frozen in place. "Is there anything Ranko can do to help catch his interest?"

Reiko was about to try to help her friend out by telling Miu they really didn't know him well enough to answer that question, which was probably true enough, but Ranko spoke up first.

"Um ... well ... you know ... Ranko is just so tomboyish I think Ranma just sees her as one of the guys. She probably needs to show a bit more of her feminine side if she wants him to see her that way."

"Excuse us a moment," Reiko told Miu, grabbing Ranko and yanking her away a short distance where they could talk without being overheard. She couldn't believe that response. Was this just some plot to get Miu to help her try to get Ranma to decide he actually liked his cursed form?

"What was that all about?" she asked as harshly as she could manage to make a whisper sound.

"I don't know; I just panicked," she replied. "She looked so hopeful that it felt like I would be kicking her if I didn't offer something. And well, I've been hanging around Ukyo a lot lately, so that was the first thing that popped into my mind."

Ah yes, she'd forgotten that Ranko could sometimes be as bad as most guys when it came to dealing with cute girls. Well, it probably wouldn't cause too much trouble, and even if it did, Ranma would just have to decide if it was worth continuing to hide his curse from her. Walking back to Miu, Reiko quickly took the lead before Ranko could cause any more problems.

"Ranma is highly devoted to martial arts, and doesn't really have any hobbies outside of that as far as we know," she told Miu. "That's really about all the help we can give you."

"You've helped plenty already," Miu assured them, bowing gratefully. "Now I should probably let you get to class. I wouldn't want to make you late on your first day."

That statement brought a flash of annoyance to Reiko as she was reminded again that Ranko was in the same class and Ranma. She was almost tempted to leave her to find her own way, but she quickly shook that thought off. They'd discussed the whole situation further this morning and the two of them were determined not to let Ranma come between their friendship. So Ranko in tow, she set off to find their classes.

* * *

Ranma entered his class to discover his homeroom teacher was a woman by the name of Ono Kyoko. She was currently directing everyone to their seats according to a chart she held and doing a rather poor job of keeping order. Ranma got seated in the very back corner of the class, which suited him perfectly. There was a nice view out the window and he was less likely to get caught napping. Ranko arrived a short while later and was directed to the seat to his right, although it was the person who took the seat in front of him that really caught his attention.

"So, has Yomi sent you here after me?" he asked Boris as the large boy took the seat in front him.

"I was not even informed you would be here," Boris replied. "My mission does not involve you in any way, so I see no reason to treat you as anything but another student of this school."

Ranma didn't know Boris well enough to be able to tell if that was the truth or not, but he seemed honest enough about it. Besides, Ranma wasn't the type to get all worried about whether this person or that would try to kill him. He'd deal with it if it came up. Honestly, he wouldn't with for either, but if he had to choose, he might just prefer people out for his blood over people out for his hand in marriage. Although he might be dealing with one of the latter group soon enough as Rachel marched through the door and strode over their way.

"Get up, Boris, we're switching classes," she ordered him.

Despite her command, Boris remained exactly where he was. "Our mission is to attend this school, and as such the teachers are our temporary commanders," he replied. "I cannot comply without their consent."

Ranma was glad he turned her down. Boris may be an unknown, but it was hard to imagine him making a worse classmate than Rachel.

"I haven't heard anything about a classroom swap," their teacher declared, having overheard the conversation.

"Are you saying you would get in the way of true love over a bit a bureaucratic red tape?" Rachel demanded of Kyoko, having turned to address her sharply almost the moment she had cut into the conversation.

"No, of course not," their teacher replied almost in shock before Ranma even got a chance to protest the 'true love' part.

"As you can see, she's agreed," Rachel declared, turning back to Boris.

"Very well," he consented getting up and heading toward the door.

"Wait a minute," Ranma called after him. "What part of that sounded like permission to you?"

But if Boris heard, he ignored Ranma as he sped out the door and was out of sight.

"You don't think they'll actually let you switch classes just because you wanted to, do you?" Ranko asked a bit testily, looking to be upset with Rachel more than her partner in crime.

"Sure I do," Rachel replied, sitting in the recently abandoned seat in front of Ranma and stretching out as she settled in, an act that was being watched closely by many of their male classmates.

"Well, it's already done," their teacher chimed in. "I suppose there's no point worrying about it now."

The woman was far too accepting of the situation in Ranma's opinion. Then again, if she was this much of a pushover, it could be real easy to get some shut eye whenever he needed it. At the very least, he doubted she'd drain him. It took a while, but class finally did calm down after that little show, and Ranma quickly ignored what was being said, instead working on perfecting his newly learned Seikuken. He noticed that Rachel seemed to twitch every time he created the aura, probably because she was easily in range of it. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and broke her silence.

"Do you have to do that?" she whispered as she turned to face him. "I'm not here to fight you."

"Not worried about you," Ranma replied. "Just getting in some training."

"Well, I wish you'd choose some other way to train," she told him huffily.

Ranma just shrugged in reply and went back to doing exactly what he had been. His options were limited enough in class, and this ability was both new and one of the few things he could work on without getting caught be the teacher. Besides, Rachel hadn't exactly done anything to make him want to do her a favor. Not having her request granted, Rachel turned back to face the teacher, but the look she gave him before she did all but promised he'd pay for it later.

* * *

As attractive as Rachel was, Ranko's blood was boiling for an entirely different reason whenever she looked at the girl. As if trying to claim Ranma for herself wasn't bad enough, she was reveling in the attention she was getting from their male classmates, making sure to stretch or pose just so in order to give them a show whenever she caught them looking. She was completely shameless.

Ranko tried to ignore her antics by paying attention to class, but given it was the first day, the teachers weren't really doing much actual teaching yet. So she fell back on reviewing some of the advice her Aunt Nabiki had given her regarding winning Ranma over. There certainly wasn't any shortage of that, even without the supplemental reading material her aunt had found filed away. Not that she didn't already know it, but it really proved that her aunt didn't do things halfway. Finally, classes broke for lunch. Not letting Rachel beat her to it, she quickly got Ranma's attention.

"Aunt Ukyo cooked this up for you," she told him, pushing the boxed lunch toward him. "She said it's a special recipe designed to taste great even when it's not fresh off the grill."

"Oh thanks!" Ranma said, enthusiastically taking it from her. "This is way better than buying bread from the school."

"You're a very good friend to see that he has a decent meal," Rachel told her having turned around. "But it won't be necessary after today. His _girlfriend_ will be personally cooking him a lunch from here on out."

Ranko frowned at that and looked over to Ranma for him to correct her again and maybe put an end to her nonsense, but he was already busy all but inhaling the lunch he'd been offered and was ignoring the exchange completely.

"I'm afraid I already have plans to attend to, but I'll be seeing you again shortly," she told Ranma, blowing him a kiss before heading out the door.

Seeing all the other students sitting near them had moved off elsewhere, Ranko slid her desk over by Ranma's. They should have enough privacy for her to start following her aunt's plan without anyone overhearing something they shouldn't.

"I admit it really surprised me at first, but this Jusenkyo thing is actually pretty neat, huh?" she asked him.

"Hah, nothing neat about it," he replied quickly. "It's a curse, and I'd be rid of it in an instant if I could."

"Nothing good about it?" she questioned him skeptically. "I've heard some good stories the last couple of days, and it sounds to me you've put it to use more than once."

"Well, yeah," he admitted reluctantly. "I use it when I have to, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"What's so terrible about it?" she pressed him.

"Having no control over it for one," he replied quickly. "Always seem to change in the worst places. Then it leaves people thinking you're a freak or a pervert."

"Well, supposedly the curse does weaken with time," she pointed out. "So you shouldn't have so many problems with changing unexpectedly. And if you only change when you want then it really doesn't seem that bad to me."

"I suppose the curse has been pretty quiet lately," Ranma mused. "Still, if I have a chance at a cure, you can bet I'll take it. Been trying for too long to just let it go."

Not the answer Ranko was hoping to hear, but it was a start. It would be years before Cologne could cure him, so she didn't need to change his mind in a day. Still, she felt a twinge of guilt that the whole topic of that discussion had been part of her Aunt Nabiki's advice. The woman had made it clear how important it was to convince him that the curse wasn't a big deal to her.

Although she did pause for a second to consider the ethics of her actions. Ranko didn't like the thought that she was just manipulating Ranma with whatever plan her aunt fed her. On the other hand, it's not as if she was lying to Ranma. She'd honestly believed everything she told him. And wasn't it normal to plan out how to make a good impression on someone you were interested in? Yes, as long as she stayed true to herself, she decided there was nothing wrong with getting some help in trying to win Ranma over.

Of course Reiko's words came back to haunt her on that subject. There was no guarantee that when she got to know Ranma better that she'd still be interested in pursuing a relationship. But it was unlikely anyone else would come along with his unique situation, so she desperately hoped that it would. For now, she's follow her aunt's advice, which for the rest of lunch called for small talk and getting to know him. Ranko would just have to see where it went from there.

* * *

When school was over, Reiko hurried to the entrance where she waited for Ranma and Ranko to show up. She was barely waiting a minute when the two of them did just that, her long-time friend spotting her and hurrying over the moment they did.

"You won't believe what Rachel did," Ranko griped. "She actually forced her way into the classroom and convinced the teacher to let her stay, just to chase after Ranma."

"I suppose she should have used bribery, blackmail, hacking, or whatever it was your aunt did instead?" Reiko quipped quietly to her so Ranma wouldn't overhear.

"Er ... well ... still," Ranko said sheepishly, not able to come up with a good response.

"No I understand completely," Reiko said more loudly now that Ranma had pretty much caught up anyway. "She seems certifiably insane to me."

Reiko wasn't terribly happy with the news herself, but her own mother proved that having a good figure and being overly pushy wasn't enough to catch Ranma's interest, so maybe it wasn't much of a problem.

"Yeah, I was worried at first she was going to be another Kodachi," Ranma added. "Still, other than the whole bursting into the classroom thing, she hasn't really been all that clingy. Left during lunch and ran off to join the gymnastics team as soon as school was out."

Ranma frowned briefly after his last comment. "Then again, the gymnastics thing doesn't help her case on not being a Kodachi," he continued.

"However bad she is, we should get out of here before she decides to follow us," Ranko suggested. "There's a clothing store nearby that carries our school uniforms. We can stop there and get you yours."

"I'm not wearing a uniform," Ranma protested. "My own clothes are just fine."

"The teachers won't be happy if you break the rules like that," Ranko argued.

"They'll find something to complain about no matter what I do," Ranma countered.

"Well, if you didn't fight them over something as stupid as this, you might not get labeled a troublemaker," Ranko pointed out. "Then they might even let some of the smaller stuff slide."

"It's not stupid," Ranma argued. "My own clothes are just better for fighting in."

Neither of them looked ready to back down, so Reiko decided she might have to step in to settle this.

"Every other martial artist in the school is wearing the uniform," Reiko reminded him. "Are you saying you can't handle them on even grounds and need a handicap to win?"

"Hey, I can beat anyone in this school no matter what I'm wearing," Ranma insisted, but then caught himself a moment later seeming to have realized he'd given away his best argument. "It's just ... oh yeah! I don't have any money. Couldn't buy a uniform if I wanted to."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ranko told him. "I'll pay for them. Consider it a thanks for saving me the other day."

Saving her? Reiko hadn't heard _that_ story. But she'd find out more about that later, as she didn't want to give Ranma the chance to change the subject.

"Good, it's decided then," Reiko said instead. "Follow me. I know the way."

She started off walking, pleased to hear him following behind, even if he was muttering things that sounded none-too-pleasant just too softly for her to hear. It would be best for everyone if he didn't start a scene with the school over this. But with that problem solved, it was time to focus on other issues. Reiko had managed to work out an agreement with Ranko last night where they wouldn't interfere with any attempts the other made to get closer to Ranma.

That gave Reiko an opportunity. She simply needed to strike first and ask Ranma out on a date. Maybe it wouldn't work out and she could hand him off to Ranko without regret. Even in that scenario she'd have finally got a chance to try out that part of life so central to most high school girls' lives that had yet been denied to her. Reiko shook her head to clear that thought. She shouldn't be hoping for her date to fail.

No, the best scenario would be Ranko realized that Ranma wasn't right for her and Reiko got to enjoy date after date with a strong, handsome, romantic boyfriend with eyes only for her. After a moment of losing herself in that thought, Reiko shook it from her head as well. Too far the other way as she was getting into storybook territory now. Besides she hardly knew Ranma, but everything she'd heard indicated that Ranma would never be considered much of a romantic. Still, enough playing out scenes in her mind; it was time to act.

"Ranma, would like to go do something together after we get your uniforms?" she asked as casually as she could, getting a shocked look from Ranko who probably wasn't expecting her to make her move so soon.

"Can't, I've got training to do," he answered simply.

Reiko was a little annoyed at the off-hand dismissal, but she supposed that all that hard work was how he'd managed to catch up to her in skill. He'd probably been training every waking hour since they first met. Of course, Reiko would show him the benefits of her own training the next time they had match. She'd already had her granny working her harder but now that she could keep an eye on him, she could easily make sure she trained hour for hour just as much as he did. But she was getting distracted, and she wasn't going to give up this easily.

"There are plenty of activities we could do that might still help our training," she pointed out. "Maybe ice skating?"

She'd seen a rink nearby, and it was just the sort of date she'd always pictured going on.

"Hmm, that might not be bad to try again sometime," he answered, "but not today. I'm in the middle of perfecting a new trick."

This was proving harder than she'd anticipated. Reiko was trying to think up a new argument, but before she could, they arrived at their destination.

"Let's get this over with," Ranma declared at seeing the uniform through the window of the small store. Hurrying in, he quickly grabbed one of them and started heading for the counter.

"Aren't you at least going to try them on?" Reiko asked. "You were just complaining about them being hard to fight in. If they don't fit properly it will only be worse."

"Guess so," Ranma agreed with a shrug, heading over to an open changing room.

Ranma had barely been in there for a couple of seconds when Reiko heard a startled cry from inside. It only took her a moment to notice the cause, as there was a sprinkler system on the ceiling above the changing room that was going off. This was quickly confirmed as a quite wet and now female Ranma opened the door and escaped the malfunction. Despite her limited time in there, she had completely changed into the uniform, which however it fit before the curse activated, was a bit large on her smaller female body.

"I swear this curse has a mind of its own," Ranma muttered angrily, as a store attendant hurried past to try to figure out what was going on. "Heard us talking about it getting weaker so it decides to prove it can still mess with me."

"At least nobody saw that who doesn't already know about the curse," Ranko offered, although something Reiko caught out of the corner of her eye made her wonder if that was true.

Miu and that Kenichi boy were standing outside the store looking through the glass window, and she had no idea how long they'd been there. Miu didn't look overly shocked as she entered the store, so she remained hopeful it wasn't long.

"Oh, Ranko, I'm surprised to see you here," Miu declared. "I was actually looking for Ranma, so I came here hoping he'd stop by to pick up a uniform. Speaking of which, why are you wearing that?"

She obviously hadn't seen who had gone into the room, but if one of them didn't do something quickly, she might get suspicious.

"We were actually here to pick up Ranma's uniform," Reiko answered, "but we thought it would be funny to get a picture of Ranko wearing the boy's uniform before we bought it. And then this little sprinkler malfunction happened."

Before Reiko could see if the other girl had bought her story, a middle aged woman approached Ranma and bowed low to her.

"I'm the owner of this store, and I'm terribly sorry this happened to you. As our apology we'll provide you with your ... selection free of charge," she said, pausing momentarily to give a brief frown of disapproval at Ranma's current clothing. "I'll even throw in any other outfit in the store you'd like."

"Great, I'll just get another uniform then," Ranma answered, earning her an even stronger scowl from the owner, but Miu jumped in before the woman could say anything.

"No, we can't waste it on the uniform," Miu insisted. "This is for you. I'll help you find the perfect outfit."

This statement seemed to satisfy the older woman as the cheerful blonde ran off to do as she said. Ranma made as if to protest, but the real Ranko stopped her before she could.

"Need I remind you that the only other clothes you have are the ones Miu saw you in earlier," the girl whispered to Ranma. "Unless you want to tell her about your curse, you should probably just accept the change of clothes."

"I'll make sure she doesn't pick anything too terrible," Reiko promised him.

"Fine, but nothing girly at all," she insisted.

Given Ranko's earlier lie to Miu, she wasn't sure how easy a task it would be to stop the girl, but she'd see what she could do.

* * *

Trying on the outfit they'd finally compromised on, Ranma was still a bit annoyed. Yeah, even the girliest outfits Miu had been trying to convince her to take weren't as bad as some of the stuff she'd worn before, but that was almost always with a plan in mind. Not just something to wear. And she supposed the long-sleeved yellow shirt wasn't too terrible, even if it was obviously a woman's shirt. And the red pants were just that, pants, even if they were tighter than those she usually wore, and it felt odd having the legs stop midway down her calves.

But she was surprised to see the clothing didn't restrict her motion much, if at all. Then again, maybe that shouldn't be too surprising with Miu being a martial artist herself. Yeah, she'd change at the first opportunity she got, but she could live with this for now. Of course that didn't stop her from sending a glare at Kenichi that promised a world of pain if he so much as smirked at her.

"Well, now that we finally have that taken care of, I'm off to Ryozanpaku," Ranma declared. "I've got some training to do."

"Oh, were you going to join Ryozanpaku too?" Miu asked her hopefully.

"Uh ... yeah," Ranma agreed taking care in how she replied. "I was thinking of training there from time to time. Might not be every day. I do have a bit of a weird schedule, but don't be surprised to see me popping in from time to time."

"That's great!" Miu cheered enthusiastically as she grabbed Ranma's hands. "Please stop by as much as you want."

Miu then paused for a moment as her smile slipped a bit. "Oh, but we won't be able to train today," she said regretfully. "That's why I was looking for Ranma. I forgot to tell him this morning that the masters had something to do today and probably won't be back until tomorrow."

Well that just figured. Ranma could certainly improve the Seikuken herself, but she wanted to run a few things by the older martial artists who had more experience with the technique.

"Well, if they're not going to be available, maybe we can do that thing I suggested earlier," Reiko asked him.

"What thing?" Miu queried.

"Oh, Reiko was trying to convince us to go ice skating with her earlier," Ranma answered.

"That's a great idea!" Miu said, all her previous enthusiasm back. "I've been ice skating before, but never in an actual rink. We could all go together."

For a moment there, Ranma thought Reiko actually looked disappointed by Miu's suggestion, but that didn't make sense because it was her idea in the first place. Ah well, it might not be the best training, but a little martial arts figure skating from time to time probably wouldn't hurt. Wasn't nearly as much of a waste of time as school anyway.

"Okay, I'll go," she agreed.

"Perfect!" Miu cheered. "I know right where the rink is."

Leading them outside, she paused for a second. "Wait, shouldn't we see about inviting Ranma along?" Miu asked looking right at her as she did.

"Um, he was going to be really busy today," Ranma answered. "That's why he sent us to grab the uniform."

"Too bad," Miu said, but didn't look to let the news spoil her mood much, as she resumed leading them toward the rink.

"Has everyone been skating before?" Miu asked as they marched onward.

"I've been a couple of times," Ranma answered. Not that either of those times had turned out all that well.

"It will be my first time," Reiko admitted.

"I've never skated either," Kenichi chimed in. "Although I did read a book about it."

"I've been skating a few times," Ranko told them.

"What, when?" Reiko asked, obviously not expecting that answer.

"A couple of times with my family, and once after school with some friends," she told Reiko.

"And you didn't invite me?" Reiko complained.

"I _did_ invite you," Ranko corrected her. "You said you were busy with training that day and couldn't make it."

"Oh, that's right," Reiko confirmed sheepishly.

Ranma was quite pleased by their answers. She knew she wasn't exactly the best skater, and was worried this might go poorly for her, especially as Reiko had suggested it. Ranma knew she was the better fighter, but Reiko was good enough that if she could skate like Mikado it would be a nightmare matchup. Instead, it looked as if she would have the advantage, a thought that cheered her greatly as the entered the rink and rented their skates, with Ranko thankfully picking up her share of the tab.

Ranma quickly got all the proof she needed that this would be an easy win when Reiko stepped out onto the ice, slipped, and fell flat on her back. Kenichi moved to help her, but only ended up sprawled out on the ice next to her. Yeah, this contest was already decided. Then again, seeing Reiko not even fully making it back to her feet before taking another spill, Ranma decided it might be better to hold off his challenge at least a little while.

Winning was one thing, but he didn't want it to be _too_ boring.

* * *

Kenichi was doing his best to keep from embarrassing himself again as he slowly skated along with Miu encouraging him. He'd already taken seven painful trips onto the ice and they'd barely been at it half an hour. At least he wasn't the only one struggling. Reiko was doing about as well as he was, and Ranma, while having avoided any spills, obviously wasn't much of a skater either.

That last point especially he took a guilty pleasure in. He had to admit, he was more than a little jealous of how quickly Ranma had picked up the Seikuken, so Kenichi was kind of glad to see some physical skill he wasn't a prodigy at. On the other hand, Ranko actually was pretty competent, and Miu was skating around as if she'd being on the ice her entire life, but that didn't bother him as much as it would have if Ranma had been that good.

Letting his thoughts wander like that, Kenichi only now noticed that Miu had come to a stop directly in front of him and wasn't even looking his direction. Kenichi quickly started windmilling his arms, trying to figure out some way to come to a stop or avoid her, but to no avail. He braced himself for a collision, but at the last second, Miu nimbly skated out of his path, not even looking as if she'd noticed what she'd done. The surprise of her motion ruined what last bit of control Kenichi had as he took fall number eight for day.

"I can't believe I didn't notice it until now," Miu said, continuing to stare off away from him.

"What?" Kenichi queried, following her line of sight.

Miu appeared to be watching the trio of Ranma, Ranko, and Reiko. Ranma was trying to give some pointers to the purple-haired girl, much as Miu had been doing with him, while Ranko looked to be trying to convince him to leave her to herself and go off skating with her.

"I thought they were acting strangely before," Miu answered somewhat cryptically. "And I went in and started asking them for advice like that. I can't believe I did that."

"What are you talking about?" Kenichi asked, as he carefully got back to his feet, both frustrated at still being lost in the conversation and worried that Miu seemed to be growing upset with herself."

"Hikari likes Ranko," Miu answered much more clearly.

"Um, are you sure you aren't mistaken?" Kenichi asked, trying to process what she'd just said.

"Positive," she answered firmly. "My women's intuition tells me that it's definitely true."

Looking at what was going on, Kenichi was beginning to suspect she was at least partially right. The thing was, Ranko aka 'Hikari' knew about Ranma's curse. So in reality, she's probably fallen for Ranma, and was just acting like that because she knew it was just his cursed form. Of course this lead Miu to assume that was Ranko actually wanted was ... Kenichi's thoughts trailed off as his mind began to fill in images of just such a scenario.

"Despite all that, Hikari still helped me out even when it could mean losing Ranko," Miu declared, pulling him from his not at all unpleasant distraction. "She really is a good person."

Miu's face then firmed up as she seemed to reach a decision.

"Still, if Ranko is even interested in that sort of thing, it's for her to decide," Miu declared. "For now, I promised to help her with Ranma. Kenichi, wait here for a bit. I'll be back shortly."

"Wait, what are you planning to do?" Kenichi asked, a little worried about that, but she was already gone.

Kenichi slowly skated closer himself so he could try to overhear what was being said. He'd already missed the start of the conversation, but what they were saying was just now becoming audible over the background noise.

"The reason both of you are having so much trouble is _because_ you're martial artists," Miu declared. "You don't even have to think about how to react, your body does it on its own. The problem is, that everything it knows about moving is wrong on the ice, and it's hard to suppress instincts you've worked so hard to build."

"It might be hard, but I've just about got it down," Ranma boasted.

"Yes, you do seem to have gotten a pretty good handle on that," she agreed. "So how about taking it to the next level? It's easiest if you just think of it as a kata. Watch me and focus on how my body is moving, not just the basics but every detail of the motion you can pick up."

"Sure, sounds like fun," Ranma agreed. "So what do you got?"

"Watch closely now," Miu said, starting to skate off.

Kenichi's own eyes were glued to her too, partly to see if he could get any insight into skating himself, but mostly because he just enjoyed watching Miu. He expected her to just skate around the arena a bit, but instead she leaped into the air, rotated her body 360 degrees and land gracefully on a single skate before coming to a stop. Needless to say, it was quite impressive.

"Now you try," Miu suggested.

Kenichi had to chuckle a bit at that. Ranma could keep from falling, but he managed to look clumsy even just skating around. She couldn't possibly expect him to even try something like that. But Ranma didn't seem the least bit deterred as he started skating, actually gliding along the ice smoothly for once, but that was little surprise compared to what came next. Ranma actually did repeat Miu's recent feat, going through the rotation and landing it, even if he was a bit wobbly at times.

"Great, now let's try something a little more complicated," Miu proposed.

More complicated?! They were going to try something harder than that? And they did more than try. Miu was soon dancing around the room performing one acrobatic act after another. Soon she wasn't even stopping for breaks, instead just going straight into the next one. Ranma followed behind duplicating every action. Some were a little shaky at first, but as they started repeating the same tricks, Ranma corrected her mistakes and was soon every bit as clean in her execution as her teacher.

Kenichi had to wonder if Ranma realized that many of the motions she was mimicking so perfectly looked decidedly feminine in action. Regardless, he certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell her if she didn't. Feminine or not, their performance had drawn quite the crowd. There wasn't another person left in the rink skating themselves everyone instead choosing to watch the pair in awe. Which was no surprise given it looked as if it could have been an Olympic performance.

Finally, Miu did come to a stop a short distance from Kenichi, and Ranma did the same next to her. Realizing they were finished, the recently formed crowd burst into cheers and applause.

"That was wonderful," Miu congratulated her. "Next time you should take Ranma here. I'm sure he'd be impressed with a performance like that."

"Ah, yeah ... probably," Ranma answered with a nervous chuckle.

Remembering Miu's earlier declaration, Kenichi had to wonder if Ranma was the first person in history someone had tried to set up with themself. If nothing else, Ranma served as a constant reminder that as crazy as things got for Kenichi, they could be worse.

* * *

Ranma was proud that she was finally able to show off her skills properly, even on the ice, but she was still a bit confused about some of the stuff from that kata, so he decided to ask Miu to explain.

"I can see how to use some of that stuff," she admitted, "but a lot of it seems to me like it would just leave you open for attack without accomplishing anything."

"Not everything is about martial arts," Kenichi answered for her. "Figure skating is just figure skating. Thankfully this is one place you can go without worrying about fights."

"Actually, I just didn't teach Ranko any martial arts figure skating moves because I felt regular figure skating would be more useful to her," Miu admitted.

"Wait, you mean people actually do fight on skates?" Kenichi asked in shock.

"Of course they do," Ranma answered, not sure why he was so surprised about that. "It's why I came here in the first place. Well, I'm tired of waiting on a fight anyway. Miu can show me the good stuff later, I'm going to go spar with Reiko whether she's ready or not."

Skating over to the girl in question, Ranma found herself wobbling a bit now that she was no longer just mimicking Miu. This earned her a few odd looks from some of the crowd that had just seen her previous show, but she quickly thought back to just how she'd been skating during that routine and corrected her movements.

Anyone could just copy someone else's movements. It took real skill to apply pieces of that and put them together into something new. And seeing as she was the best, it had only taken her a moment to do just that and allow her skate smoothly in any way she wanted. None of her audience seemed terribly impressed with this fact, but what did they know?

"I hope you're ready for a match," Ranma declared to Reiko, having reached the girl, "because I'm itching for a good fight."

"Fight?" Reiko asked curiously.

"Yeah, you know, martial arts figure skating?" Ranma replied, getting annoyed that a second person in less than a minute seemed confused by the concept. "I thought that's what you invited me here for."

She saw Ranko smirking at the purple-haired girl in reply to his comment, earning an annoyed glare back, but he wasn't even going to bother trying to figure out what that was about it. Besides, Reiko was already unsteadily getting into a fighting stance.

"Fine, if it's a fight you want, then bring it," Reiko told her firmly.

"Great! I'll start off slow since this is your first time," she told her. Best to drag it out a bit and enjoy it anyway.

Making the first move, Ranma used one of the few useful bits she managed to pull from the training Miu had just given her and started a quick spin before using the velocity of her spin to lash out with a leg aimed at the side of Reiko's chest. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Reiko caught her leg, as it was hardly the most unpredictable of attacks, but while her opponent's move would have worked great on solid ground, stopping a kick wasn't as easy on the ice.

Reiko quickly lost her footing and spilled to the ground. Unfortunately for Ranma, she never let go of her leg, pulling Ranma down with her in the process. They quickly untangled their limbs and pushed apart as they both got back to their feet, but before they could continue the match a man wearing some sort of uniform ran up to them in a huff.

"Break it up!" he ordered angrily. "If you have a problem with each other, take it outside, but there won't be any fighting on the ice."

"There's no problem," Ranma assured him. "We're just practicing some Martial Arts Figure Skating."

"Martial Arts Figure Skating?" the man asked dubiously.

"Yes! It's a real thing!" Ranma insisted, not able to hold back her frustration anymore at no one seeming to have heard of it. "Schools compete against each other and everything."

"Well, I don't know what sort of stuff they do where you're from, but we don't allow any such thing in our rink," he fired back. "I appreciate the free publicity your training here gives us, but if you try anything like that again I'll have you banned from the rink."

Ranma wanted to argue but Ranko stopped her before she could.

"Just let it go," she told him. "You'll have to do the martial arts side somewhere else. Let's just enjoy some regular skating today."

Ranma wasn't about to let it go at all. If there was no martial arts side then what was the point? But a conversation just on the edge of her hearing caught her attention.

"Is that guy in the panda costume supposed to be a new mascot?" he heard a girl ask, spotting a young teenager talking to her friend out of the corner of her eye. "I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"I don't know," her friend answered. "I've never noticed him before at least."

Well, there was only one person they could be referring to, and Ranma would have to deal with him sooner or later. But wait, wasn't her father supposed to have cured his curse? Well, either way, she was looking into this.

"Fine, no more fighting on the ice," she said. "Anyway, I have something to take care of quickly. Be back soon."

Leaving the rest of the group behind, she skated to the edge of the rink and switched back to the shoes she'd left there. Scanning around with her eyes, she saw someone wearing a panda costume peeking around a corner. They darted away the second she looked at them. Giving chase, she'd barely rounded the corner when she saw her target leaping at her leg first. Grabbing the attacking limb she flipped her assailant and slammed him into the ground. Any doubts this was her old man had been swept away by the attack.

"What are you doing here, you old fool?" she demanded to know.

But rather than answer, her father just lifted up a sign saying "I'm just a cute panda."

Not wanting to put up with any more of his antics, Ranma grabbed the head of the costume and ripped it off, revealing her old man's bandana wearing head.

"Hey, that thing wasn't cheap!" he complained.

"Why were you wearing it in the first place?" she asked him, embarrassed once again by his behavior.

"It was a disguise, of course," he answered.

"And you figured a panda disguise would be the best way to hide the fact it's you?" Ranma asked him. "Try to put a little more thought into it next time."

"This isn't about me boy," her old man declared, as he slipped off the rest of the costume. "It's certainly a good thing I came looking for you.

Seeing the costume gone, she was treated to a bit of a surprise. Her father was still a number of pounds heavier than she best remembered him, but he was a lot closer to his old form than the tub of lard he'd been when they last met.

"You were sloppy," her father complained. "I went easy on you and you still almost didn't get me in time. I suppose that's all I can expect considering you've been spending your time dressing up as a girl and prancing around like some kind of ice ballerina. At least you brought Ranko along, but next time you do this, try leaving everyone but her behind."

Ranma didn't know what made her angrier at her pops, the insults or him not even being able to keep straight whether he wanted her here or not.

"I was trying to do some martial arts figure skating," she replied. "Not my fault they're being so lame about it."

"Regardless, it's time to get you some proper training again," her pops insisted.

"I've found masters far better than you'll ever be," Ranma snapped back. "There's nothing left for you to teach me."

"Is that so?" her pops asked smugly. "You think I've taught you everything I know? If you really believe that, then place your palm on mine."

He held his entire arm straight out, palm facing upwards. Ranma suspected some kind of trick, but not about to let her father call her a coward over this moved over and did as he asked, placing her own palm face down on his, but preparing herself to pull it away if he tried anything. And try something he certainly did.

Visibly, all he did was flick his fingers up and then close them into a fist, but to Ranma, it felt like something had latched on to her entire arm and wrenched it upwards. She was pulled off her feet and twisted over his head, barely having time to get her feet under her before she was slammed into the ground with enough force to jar her.

"What was that?" Ranma asked excitedly, impressed despite herself. "It kind of reminded me of Happosai's pipe trick."

"Don't say that name!" her old man insisted in almost a panic.

"What? Happosai?" she asked in a bit of amusement. Even with all the tricks the old freak knew, she still knew it was impossible for him to just teleport in because they happened to say his name. If it kept her old man off his feet, all the better for convincing him to teach that trick to her without having to promise him too much in exchange.

"You afraid Happosai will be upset you stole one of his techniques?" she taunted.

"Hot mama, you're back!" the ancient old troll in question yelled out, just before latching onto her chest. Ripping him free as quickly as she could, she tossed him away.

"I warned you," Genma cried out dramatically as he backed away from his own master in the arts.

"Genma!" Happosai shouted angrily. "I'm quite upset with you right now, but I need to talk to Ranma alone. Make yourself scarce and I may forget about punishing you for the moment."

"Of course, Master," he replied, turning tail and running away from them.

"Wait!" Ranma called out, trying to pursue the man until Happosai got in the way.

"Hold on there, I'm not finished with you yet," he ordered, bringing Ranma up short.

Ranma growled at that, but realized this might not be so terrible. If that really was based on Happosai's technique, he might just be able to get the old pervert to teach it himself. It would be even more unpleasant, but if it got results he'd put up with it.

"So, how did my old man get his hands on your trick anyway?" Ranma asked. "He get you drunk enough to spill the beans?"

"I don't suppose it was too hard," Happosai answered. "He's the one who came up with it in the first place."

"Huh?" Ranma asked in confusion, as he'd never seen his father use anything of the sort before.

"Don't be too surprised," Happosai told him. "You've seen the Umi Sen Ken and Yama Sen Ken. Few people can come up with new techniques of that level. Your father has always been an idiot savant in that regard. You don't think I kept him around just for his groveling do you? I already had Soun for that."

"So you've been getting him to come up with new techniques for you all this time?" Ranma questioned, a bit shocked at the thought.

"Yeah, and then I make it clear to him not to let anyone else in on the trick," he answered. "He's usually too scared to defy me on that matter, but it seems he needs a refresher course this time. He picked up that old technique again and even seems to have improved on it."

"Wait a minute," Ranma said, realizing something. "You knew right away what trick I was talking about. You were watching us all this time, weren't you? You just get kicks out of scaring my old man like that, don't you?"

Ranma felt quite pleased with herself for figuring that bit out.

"Guilty as charged, I'm afraid," Happosai answered. "But can you blame an old man for wanting a little fun from time to time? Anyway, I really just wanted to find you again after I heard you were back. I figured if I followed Genma long enough he'd lead me to you eventually. The rest was just a little bonus."

"So, you chased off my old man before he could spill the beans," Ranma pointed out. "So are you going to take responsibility and teach me how to do that instead?"

"I might," Happosai said, pulling out his pipe and puffing on it. "But first, I must ensure you're worthy of it."

"Will you quit with the wise old man routine already?" Ranma asked. "The act isn't fooling anyone, so if you want something in return, just tell me."

"Quiet, Brat!" Happosai ordered angrily. "I'm a perfectly respectable martial art ..."

His words trailed off when Ranma gave a small little hop that caused her breasts to bounce in reaction, a motion that entranced the old pervert.

"Sweet!" he cried out, leaping forward just as Ranma had expected he would.

Enhancing her speed as much as she could, she managed to catch Happosai with a fist to face, intercepting him before he could once again latch onto her chest.

"You were saying?" she asked.

"You've improved more than I expected," Happosai admitted, "but don't think it's enough to stop me."

Feeling Happosai's aura grow, Ranma took a step back and prepared himself, knowing that this could get ugly if Happosai was really getting serious.

"Ranma! Apachai found you!" the large man called out, distracting both martial artists.

The tall foreigner was accompanied by Shigure, which Ranma would bet a lot was exactly why Happosai no longer looked ready to fight him.

"Now that's a woman!" Happosai declared, launching himself at Shigure much as he'd just done at Ranma, but this time the reaction was even more severe, as he nearly impaled himself on a dagger that dashed out at him.

Happosai had managed to stop his forward momentum by clasping his hands around the flat sides of the blade, much like the old sword catching trick, but even so, there was barely a hairsbreadth of space between the point and his neck. As if that wasn't enough, Apachai decided to get involved and sent a truly brutal-looking kick at the grandmaster of Anything Goes. Not having a chance to block, he was sent rocketing into the floor, where he bounced back to his feet, if a little more slowly than he normally recovered from such things.

"Should Apachai kill him?" the giant asked, sounding far too cheerful considering what he just requested.

"You seem to have made yourself some dangerous friends," Happosai noted. "We may have to continue this later."

"Wait, you're not going to leave too, are you?" Ranma asked, receiving his answer even as he was still speaking as Happosai retreated into the distance as well.

"I thought you guys weren't going to be back until tomorrow," Ranma declared, looking at the two martial arts masters.

"We got back early," Shigure answered. "They sent us to find you."

Well, even if he missed out on that new trick today, at least it looked like he'd get some training. And his old man and Happosai were sure to be around whether he wanted them or not. Still, he might yet have a chance to find them.

"Miu and Kenichi are inside," he informed them. "I'll go on ahead and meet you back at the dojo."

Now to see if he could track down one of the missing Anything Goes practitioners.

* * *

Miu was beginning to worry about why Ranko wasn't back yet. She hadn't gotten into some sort of trouble had she? Looking toward the entrance again, she saw Apachai and Shigure walking toward the edge of the ice. She was surprised to see them so soon, but maybe they knew what happened to Ranko. Skating over to them, she decided to ask.

"Have you two seen Ranko?" Miu asked.

"Who?" Apachai queried in confusion.

"She went back to the dojo," Shigure then answered more helpfully.

Noticing that the other woman was busy sharpening the blades on the ice skates she was now holding she thought of stopping her, but figured that would be more trouble than it was worth.

"So, are you two planning to come ice-skating too?" she asked.

"Apachai doesn't know," the man answered, looking conflicted. "Apachai wants to skate, but Apachai also wants to train Kenichi."

"Why not do both at the same time?" Shigure asked him, handing off the recently sharpened skates she'd been holding.

Apachai brightened up immediately but Miu was much less thrilled by the thought. Apachai doing martial arts while wearing skates sharpened by Shigure? Kenichi really might die. Wait, where had they even found skates that would fit him? Looking them over she realized they were homemade in nature, with blades having been added to an oversized pair of slippers.

"Ranko already got in trouble for trying martial arts in the rink." Miu told him firmly. "If we do anything like that again we'll get kicked out. Why not just do some skating now and train him when we get back?"

"Not even a little training?" Apachai asked hopefully.

"Not until we get back," Miu insisted firmly.

Despite her words, she'd probably have to keep an eye on Apachai the rest of the time they were here. Ah well, even in the worst case scenario, she'd had a lot of fun already. She'd love to go skating with Ranko again, and the girl really was quite good to pick it up so quickly. Not to mention that it was even more exciting than she'd expected to be training someone else again. She'd done that a little with Kenichi early on, but hadn't had an opportunity in a while.

Of course before that, she would have to try to set Ranko up to go with Ranma and without any distractions tagging along. She'd make sure Ranma saw Ranko as woman, and not just another martial artist. That's what friends were for, right?

* * *

Ranma might just have to accept that she wouldn't be finding Happosai or her old man tonight. Her search so far had turned up nothing, and rather than waste more time she should probably just get back to the dojo. With that in mind, she started her journey back, only to be caught completely by surprise when chains wrapped around her without her even realizing they were coming until it was too late to dodge. With her arms tightly held to her side, she found herself just as quickly pulled back into the dark alley where the chains had originated, where she was now face-to-face with Mousse.

"What are you trying to pull?" Ranma shouted angrily as she tried to squirm her way free.

She should have known the whole friendly bit wouldn't last. He just didn't seem like Mousse when he was acting like that. Well, he may have got the drop on Ranma, but she'd make him pay for that. Just as soon as she found a way to get out of these chains.

"Calm down," Mousse ordered her. "I just want to speak to you alone. This is the first time all day no one else has been shadowing you, and I don't want to be interrupted."

Well, it didn't look like a trick, and there wasn't much point in trying games like that considering the position he already had her in.

"You want to talk?" she asked. "Fine. Just let me go and we can talk."

Immediately the chains went slack and fell away from her. Funny, she hadn't actually been expecting that to work. Now she just needed to decide which she wanted to do first. Hear what Mousse seemed to determined to tell her or pay him back for his little surprise.

"I'm afraid our plan to draw a wedge between Shampoo and that scum she's living with has fallen through," Mousse declared, despite her being certain she never agreed to help him with that. "Not your fault though. It looked like it would have worked if that old mummy hadn't interfered again."

"I don't know why you're telling me this," Ranma interrupted. "It's not like I've ever been able to change Cologne's mind when it came to matchmaking."

"It's because I'm forced to switch plans, and I still need your help," Mousse answered. "I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I think you'll like this plan even better."

"Go on," Ranma said, merely humoring him. Wasn't very likely he'd want anything to do with one of Mousse's plans.

"It goes back to something Cologne told us about the artifact you were trapped in," Mousse explained. "Do you know how it is that it seemed like no time passed for you?"

"I dunno," Ranma admitted. "It's magic. What else do you want me to say?"

"It's because the gem, and everything in it exists in a fixed point in time," Mousse answered. "Or basically, if we destroy the magic that powers it, you'll never have been trapped in the first place. Then everything changes and I have another chance at winning Shampoo."

"Wait, you're talking some kind of time travel?" Ranma asked, finding that hard to believe even with all the things he'd seen in his life. "If that's even possible why do you need me? Would I be shot back into the past remembering everything?"

"I don't know," Mousse admitted. "In a way, you're kind of still trapped in the gem thanks to some weird time ... stuff. I know a guy who's more familiar with these types of things, and he thinks we may be able to sort of sync you up or something so that when you're freed in the past you still remember everything here."

"So you're trying to figure it out as you go?" Ranma questioned him, seeing the plan was up to Mousse's usual level. "And I'm your guinea pig?"

"There's a chance it won't work," Mousse admitted. "But the worst case scenario is: you don't remember anything either. You'll still be back right where you disappeared."

"How does this even help you if you don't remember anything either way?" Ranma asked suspiciously. "You don't generally do things out of the goodness of your heart."

"No need to be rude, Saotome," Mousse said in annoyance. "I do want something in return, but this arrangement is to both our benefits, unless you like being ripped away from your life. I'm moving forward whether you co-operate or not, so I suggest you shut up and listen."

"So much for not being rude," Ranma mumbled under his breath, but let the robed man finish his explanation.

"I've come to realize that with so many factors working to keep us apart, it may take somewhat longer than I'd want to win over Shampoo," Mousse explained. "Starting over gives me another chance, and I'm certain I won't fail this time. But with your help, I could sweep her off her feet in half the time."

"So in exchange for sending me back, you want me to hook you up with Shampoo?" Ranma asked, wanting to make sure this was all there was to it.

"That's right," Mousse agreed enthusiastically. "This time around, I can be the one to marry Shampoo, and you can get Akane like you were supposed to."

_Akane_. He really had been moving on from her, but the thought that he could get back to his own Akane and have another chance to make things work shook him more than he'd expected. Beyond that, his mother would be alive again, and everything would be back the way it was supposed to be. Ranma hadn't even considered that this was possible, but now that it was right in front of him, he realized he wanted this more than he'd ever wanted anything.

"I still don't trust you to get this right," Ranma told him, "but if you get me back where I belong, then you have a deal. Now what do I need to do?"

"I'm still trying to work out all the details," Mousse told him. "But I should be ready in about a week. I'll find you again then and we'll do this. You won't regret this, Saotome. We'll return the world to the way it's supposed to be."

Without even letting Ranma reply, he was already running off, probably eager to finish the preparations, and Ranma couldn't blame him. Magic never seemed to work out well for him, but he still was in one of the best moods of his life with just the chance that Mousse might actually come through. He was so lost in his thoughts of just what he'd do when he first got back that he hardly even noticed the trip back to the dojo. He might have been lost in his fantasies for hours if he hadn't been pulled out of it by a voice he certainly didn't expect to greet him when he entered the dojo.

"I don't like being kept waiting, Ranma," came Nabiki's annoyed voice.

"What are you doing here?" Ranma asked in surprise, having thought the woman was living in America.

While he waited for her answer he looked over the woman he was actually seeing for the first time since all this craziness started. She was wearing a gray suit that looked to fit her like a glove and had hair that was maybe an inch longer than when he'd last seen it. Not being a martial artist, he'd expected the years to have shown on her, much like they did on Kasumi. But if he didn't know better, he wouldn't have even thought she was thirty yet. Ranma wondered just how much Nabiki was paying for that privilege.

"I've been hearing reports that Mousse has been making some rather troubling movements lately," she answered him. "As I suspect they involve you, I came to pass on a warning."

"Warn me that he might just have the answer to all my problems?" Ranma asked a bit sharply, realizing she'd probably been attempting to keep him from Mousse for whatever reason. Worried she might end up with a slightly smaller bank account if he went back, most likely.

"I see you've already run into him," Nabiki declared, not looking at all pleased with that fact. "Now I know I am the guest here, but if at all possible, could the rest of you give us some privacy?"

Ranma must have been more out of it than he realized, as he only then noticed that except for Shigure and Apachai, all the other masters were present in the dojo and listening in, even the Elder. Almost as surprising was the fact that they all filed out politely, leaving Ranma alone with Nabiki.

"You can't go through with this," she ordered him.

"I can and I will!" Ranma snapped back angrily. "And I'm sorry if I step on one of your little plans doing so, but actually, I don't even really care."

"Ranma, just stop for a second and actually think about the consequences," Nabiki insisted.

"You mean that I might actually be happy again?" Ranma asked, anger really starting to get to him at the thought that she would actually go so far as to try to keep this from him. "Or that things might not work out into the perfect little world you've set up the next time around?"

In response, Nabiki slapped him with all her strength in the side of the face. Sure he could have stopped her at any time, but he was surprised enough by the reaction that he let her go through with it. Especially since it did little more than make a loud noise.

"Let me start simple and break this down for you," she told him coldly. "If you went back in time, you would certainly do your best to get together with my sister, and don't try to deny it. But Ranko is Ryoga and Akane's daughter. If the two of them don't hook up, she's never even born. For all intents and purposes, you'd be killing her."

Her words sunk in despite his mind's best efforts to resist them. Could he actually bring himself to do that? Kill Ranko so he could be together with Akane? How would that make him any better than Mousse? It would probably make him even worse. As far as he knew, Mousse had never actually killed anyone yet. Then again, he was behind this whole idea to send Ranma back in the first place, so he'd be just as guilty of anything they did.

"No," Ranma said, still resisting her words. "Even if it means I have to give up Akane, I still have to go back. I don't have her here either, but at least I'll be where I belong."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Nabiki replied. "Ever heard of chaos theory or the butterfly effect? Every person you interact with is going to have their lives forever altered. Even the slightest act of noticing you will change their thoughts and actions from that point onward. The same then becomes true for everyone they interact with, rippling outward faster than you'd believe possible until the whole world has been affected."

Ranma believed he was following so far, but didn't yet see the point she was trying to make.

"Now I don't know how much you've actually been taught on the subject, but do you have any idea how many different sperm cells there are, each with their own unique DNA combination?" Nabiki continued. "Or what the odds are the same one will be the first to the egg cell after someone has been affected by the changes you've caused? Just traveling back would almost certainly lead to a change in the genetic makeup of every child born within a year of a when you arrived. In short, you'd be wiping out everyone born in the last twenty years. Over two billion deaths sitting right at your feet."

Ranma actually felt a little unsteady on his feet he was so blown away by the magnitude of her claim. He didn't know any of the science or math behind it, but he could follow what she was saying, and it did seem to make sense. Still, he couldn't just give up now without even trying.

"Maybe there's some way to not go back quite as far," Ranma proposed. "If I could at least go back far enough to save my mother, Ranko, Reiko, and all of them would be fine, right?"

"Oh, so mass murder is fine as long as you keep the number under a billion and no one you know dies?" Nabiki said wryly, earning her a scowl from Ranma.

"Maybe Cologne can help!" he shouted out. "She knows more about the gem than anyone. There must be some way to control it better."

"That's right," Nabiki quipped. "Cologne can single-handedly bend time and space to control causality and prevent your presence from affecting history. Face it, if she had a tiny fraction of that power, you'd have been bundled up and married to Shampoo long ago."

"There has to be something I can do!" Ranma cried out, refusing to accept that his hope could be so cruelly crushed right after he'd found it. "I'm certain there's a way to make it work, and I'm going to find it!"

"Look, Ranma," Nabiki told him. "I'm not a fighter. I can't stop you, and I can't stop Mousse. If you two idiots are determined to go through with this, then it's out of my hands. So there's no need to try to convince me. It's your decision to make and you need to live with the consequences. I've said my piece, and I'm a busy woman, so I'll take my leave."

Nabiki tried to do just that, but when she opened the door to the dojo, she found her way blocked by Apachai. The large man, apparently back from ice skating was standing there with his ear pressed against where the door had just been. He then straightened himself out and looked around in confusion.

"Where did everyone go?" he asked curiously.

In response, Shigure dropped her head into view from where she was hanging from the roof outside.

"You're supposed to hide when they come," she informed him.

Ranma's thoughts and emotions were still going haywire after Nabiki had verbally raked him over the coals, but his eyes latched on to Shigure when he saw her.

"Shigure, you're just the person I need right now," he told her. "I doubt Mousse is going to be as reasonable about this as me, and somehow or another I just know it's going to end up with the two of us fighting. I haven't really fought a weapon user in a while, and I'll need all the practice I can get. Willing to give me a hand?"

"I can help?" she asked, somehow giving Ranma the impression she was excited by the prospect despite giving it in the same expressionless manner she always did.

"I'm glad you made the right decision," Nabiki told him, nodding with approval. "I should warn you though, if this does come to a fight, Mousse may be nowhere near Ryoga's level, but he hasn't slacked off completely either. Don't expect him to be a pushover like Kuno. He really is a master level fighter. Oh, and something you shouldn't underestimate is his stealth. Considering what Ryu does to him whenever he catches him around Shampoo, he's become one of the premier stalkers in the world. Lose sight of him and you may not see him again until it's too late."

Ranma could believe that. As much as he hated to admit it, Mousse had caught him completely off-guard with those chains. Thankfully, Mousse still thought he was cooperating, so he should come out into the open on his own.

"Don't worry," Ranma told her. "I'm going to train like crazy just to be safe, but when he shows up again, he's not going to know what hit him."

* * *

Kenichi couldn't believe he'd been banned from the skating rink. He hadn't even done anything. It had been Apachai that had nearly sliced him in half with those stupid skates of his. And to make it worse, he was only alive because Miu had saved him again.

"Why couldn't the masters have just stayed gone all day like they were supposed to?" Kenichi complained to Miu as they entered the gate to Ryozanpaku, everyone else having already departed, or went on ahead.

"It would have been nice if it could have gone on a little longer," Miu agreed. "But look on the bright side. At least you won't miss your training today."

"That's supposed to be the bright side?" Kenichi grumbled as Miu broke off from him and started heading toward the main complex.

"I'm going to start on dinner," she told him. "You should go check in with the masters."

He was tempted to go with Miu, or duck out completely, but it would probably only be worse for him if he did. Approaching the dojo, he opened the door only to have a blade fly by less than an inch from his face to land outside.

"Watch out," Ranma cried out in a friendly warning, despite it being a little late for that.

He'd already changed both his gender and his clothes since returning home, but he may need to change clothes again soon if their current partially shredded state was any indication. How they got that way was pretty obvious given that Shigure hadn't even paused in her assault as weapon after weapon was sent Ranma's way with pinpoint accuracy.

It reminded him very much of his own training to help deal with his fear of weapons. For a moment he wondered if Ranma could actually be afraid of them as well, but it was quickly clear that, if anything, he was enjoying this.

"What's going on here?" he asked in confusion.

"Shigure is just helping me train for a big fight," Ranma answered, and Kenichi's heart skipped a beat as he thought his question might have just gotten Ranma killed.

But the other boy dodge the shuriken that was aimed at his neck at the last moment.

"Shigure!" Kenichi protested. "I don't care if it's training, you need to be more careful or you could really kill him!"

"Nah, if anything she's going too easy on me," Ranma replied. "Mousse isn't going to be so careful. Could you pick up a notch, Shigure? Need to make sure I'm ready."

Kenichi wanted to argue further to try to save the boy, but seeing Shigure obligingly prepare another set of weapons, Kenichi decided self-preservation came first and slammed the door shut before getting a safe distance from the dojo. Once he was sure he was okay he paused to say quick silent apology to Ranma for abandoning him. But if Ranma was so determined to go through with this, he'd have to do so on his own.

* * *

If there was one good thing about this whole mess, it was getting out of school. Even Miu hadn't pressed him too hard to go when he'd told her he had a really important fight coming up. So he was able to devote his whole day to training, and he'd done just that for the last three days. While he kept up his physical conditioning, and got a few more pointers on refining his Seikuken, most of his time he spent training with Shigure. That or getting patched up from his training as he was doing now.

Honestly, he didn't know why they made such a big deal about it. Sure there were a lot of cuts, but none of them were that deep. They'd heal up fine on their own. Still, they wouldn't listen no matter how much he told them he was fine, so he'd given up and now sat here with Akisame cleaning and bandaging his wounds, hoping the man would hurry it up. For some reason, Sakaki was sitting in the room watching as he drank a beer. Ah well, at least it gave him a chance to make some conversation while he was waiting.

"I wasn't expecting Shigure to be so good," Ranma admitted. "Mousse is going to seem like a joke after this training."

"She is a master of her art," Akisame reminded him.

"Yeah, but she doesn't look like she's that much older than I am," Ranma pointed out. "Most of the masters here are so old it's not surprising they're ... hey watch it!"

Akisame had never made any mistakes when patching him up before, but he'd really jammed his finger into one of Ranma's cuts that time.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at this," Ranma grumbled.

"I apologize, it must be my old age catching up with me," Akisame answered almost too politely.

He wasn't really going to take that the wrong way, was he? Sakaki, meanwhile, must have thought the whole thing pretty funny as he could almost smell the beer on his breath with how loud he was laughing.

"He's really got you pegged there, old man," Sakaki declared. "Time for you old folk to lie down and let those of us with some youth take over."

"Aren't you pretty old yourself?" Ranma asked, a little confused as to why Sakaki would be including consider himself part of any youth movement.

"What?!" Sakaki sputtered out. "I'm almost ten years younger than him. I'm the very picture of youthful vigor!"

"So you're not exactly a geezer, you're still a lot older than me," Ranma pointed out, getting annoyed at how uptight they were being over a little thing like their age. "That's all I really mean."

"I'm also more experienced and a much better fighter than you are," Sakaki said as he stood up and walked over to Ranma menacingly. But Ranma wasn't about to back down, even if he knew he was outmatched should it actually come to a fight.

"You may be better than me now, but I'll catch up to you sooner than you think," he insisted. "So enjoy it while you can."

"You've got guts kid," Sakaki said approvingly. "I like that. Still, you're not even close to my level yet, so why don't you get back to your training instead of running your mouth."

With that, Sakaki grabbed his arm tightly, causing an involuntary wince of pain from Ranma as the man was holding onto one his recently bandaged wounds. He then proceeded to toss Ranma out the door with enough velocity that Ranma skidded for about thirty feet when his feet touched the ground.

"I wasn't finished yet," he'd heard Akisame complain as he was still flying, but Ranma was more interested in getting back to training than returning for more bandages.

He only wished his father had shown up again to teach him that little trick of his. An extra surprise for Mousse would have been perfect. But he hadn't heard a peep from the old fool, so he'd have to stick to training with Shigure for now, and he already saw her waiting a short distance away.

"Miu wants us to train outside," Shigure informed him. "Less damage to the dojo."

"Fine with me," Ranma agreed.

It was best to get as much variety in his training as possible anyway. Odds were, his fight with Mousse wouldn't be a nice, polite challenge in a dojo. But before they could start, Miu herself came out calling for him.

"Ranma, there's a call for you inside," she informed him.

Heading inside, he wondered who it could be. Most of the people he knew were the type who preferred to just show up on the doorstep rather than call ahead. Maybe Ukyo got ahold of the number and was calling him. When he entered he saw Apachai was now holding the phone.

"We have your child hostage," Apachai declared cheerfully into the device.

"Give me that," Ranma said, snatching the phone away from him, wondering where that had come from.

"Aren't you usually the one rescuing people?" Nabiki asked playfully through the phone. "It seems you may have lost your touch."

"I don't have a clue why he said that," Ranma answered, a bit annoyed by her teasing. "What are you calling for anyway? If you're afraid I'm having second thoughts than you don't know me very well."

"Nothing of the sort," she answered. "I just thought you'd like to know that Mousse got everything together faster than anticipated. He seems really eager to do this, and should be back in Japan hunting you down sometime tomorrow. Knowing you, you're probably overdoing it with the training, so you might want to consider getting a little rest, so you're actually in a condition to fight when he arrives."

"Ah, thanks, I guess," Ranma replied, not quite used to getting such helpful information out of Nabiki free of charge. "I'd like to have a few more days, but don't worry. I'll clean his clock in record time."

"Just don't get overconfident," she warned him. "It's more than just your neck on the line this time."

Good advice, even if it was Mousse. Still, Ranma wasn't planning to lose. In addition to all his training, he even had a trick or two in store for Mousse. One way or another, he'd beat that stupid duck.

* * *

Kenichi looked joyously upon Miu's arrival, as he took a moment to try to catch his breath. She was coming to pull him away to school as she did every morning, which meant a nice long break from this torturous training. It may be an odd sentiment for a teenager, but he didn't know how he'd survive without school.

"Why don't you go on ahead, Miu," the Elder told her, having made a rare appearance during his training. "I have something I need to talk to Kenichi about."

In fact, now that he thought about it, all the masters were hanging around right now. It wasn't unusual for one or two of them to watch, even when they weren't training him themselves, but it was pretty rare for none of them to have something else to do. Something was fishy here.

"It's nothing dangerous is it?" Miu asked, touching Kenichi with her concern.

"Of course not," he assured his granddaughter. "There's just something I want him to see."

"Alright then," she agreed. "But don't keep him too long. You don't want to make him late for school."

Kenichi looked after the girl wistfully as she walked off, not trusting the Elder's words at all about it being safe.

"What's this about?" he asked suspiciously.

"It just turns out that Ranma is going to have his big fight early," the man answered. "We thought it would be good for you to watch it."

"Oh, is that all?" Kenichi said in relief, but narrowed his eyes again, not quite willing to believe it was that simple. "Why is it good for me to watch?"

"Because Ranma will be taking an important step today," he answered. "He'll be fighting alone against a master level fighter. You've still got a long way to go in your training before you're ready for that step yourself, but watching this fight may help when the time comes."

This was a master level fighter he was up against? No wonder Ranma had been training so hard. He just hoped the other boy would be okay.

"So why is he in this fight in the first place?" Kenichi inquired, having been wondering about that these past few days.

"The details are kind of personal," Akisame told him. "It's not really our place to say."

"Don't start that again," Kenichi complained. "If you're going to keep me out of school so you can drag me off to watch this, I should at least know why they're fighting."

"Suffice it to say that Mousse is offering him something he wants more than anything in the world," the Elder answered.

"But only if he beats him in a fight?" Kenichi asked curiously, while simultaneously trying to figure out what that would be for Ranma.

He didn't know all that much about him yet, and virtually all of that revolved around martial arts. Oh, maybe a cure to his curse.

"No, he's offering it outright," the Elder answered. "Ranma plans to refuse, and expects that will lead to a fight."

"Okay, now I'm completely lost," Kenichi declared, wondering if they were just messing with him.

"He's going to refuse because accepting would badly hurt people too many people," Akisame clarified.

"I think I get it," Kenichi told them. "But are you sure you can't give any more details?"

"Even if we wanted to, we're out of time," Sakaki answered. "Ranma just left. Shigure's trailing him, but we don't want to lose sight of her."

Ah, Kenichi hadn't even realized that Shigure had slipped out, nor had he seen Ranma all morning. Well, he couldn't think of any reason to delay. It'd be nice to watch someone else forced to fight for a change.

* * *

Ranma really wished they'd set up a meeting place. Maybe he should have just stayed at the dojo, but he wasn't sure Mousse even knew he lived there. He might be expecting Ranma to be at school, so he decided to start by circling the rooftops around the school, trying to be easy to spot.

So far though, the only person he'd seen was Apachai who was busy following him around. Although he probably wasn't the only one of them tailing him, just the worst at hiding. Ah well, didn't really bother him any if he had an audience. Give him a chance to show off a bit. And his chance might be coming soon as Mousse hopped up onto the roof next to him. But he was focusing his attention behind Ranma. He was going to correct him as to where he was standing, but he realized Mousse was actually wearing his glasses for once.

"I didn't bring the gem with me, if you're planning to stop us," he called out to where Ranma saw Apachai standing. "If anything happens to me, it'll be destroyed."

"We're just here to watch," Sakaki called out, leaping up to the roof while holding Kenichi by the back of his shirt. As the rest of the gang made their way up, it became clear that Miu was the only one living at Ryozanpaku who wasn't here.

"Watch what?" Mousse asked suspiciously.

"Mousse, I'm not going through with this," Ranma informed him, drawing his attention back to Ranma.

"What?! Why?!" Mousse complained. "You should want this even more than I do."

"Nabiki explained the whole butterfly thing to me," Ranma answered. "The price is too high. We'd be hurting too many other people."

"Who's to say we won't be making the world a better place?" Mousse asked. "Since we don't know we can only do what's best for us."

"Look, I've made up my mind, and I've never known you to listen to reason, so why don't we skip over this part?" Ranma suggested.

"You know I'm going to go through with this with or without you, right?" Mousse asked. "So there's no point in fighting it."

"But it's more likely to work out for you if I help," Ranma pointed out. "So I challenge you to a fight, right here, right now. If you win, I'll help you out just like you want. If I win, you have to give up on the whole plan."

Checking out the place where they were likely to soon be fighting, he decided it was a good enough spot. Large flat roof on some type of warehouse building or something. Probably would have been best if he could have somehow dragged Mousse off to a forest, but at least he wouldn't have to worry much about protecting random nobodies wandering around nearby.

"Why should I even risk anything?" Mousse demanded of him. "It's not worth it."

That took Ranma back. He hadn't seriously considered what would happen if Mousse refused his challenge. He'd have to think on his feet. He only hoped Mousse was as easy to rile up as he used to be.

"So you're just giving up an advantage?" Ranma asked. "Not willing to go all in to win Shampoo? Then again, I can understand why you're afraid you lose."

"There's no way I'd lose to you!" Mousse swore.

"Then prove it," Ranma replied, getting into a stance and beckoning him over.

"Fine!" he snapped back. "But this is why I could never stand you."

"You've agreed to the terms then, so don't go backing out when you lose," Ranma insisted.

"That's my line!" Mousse shouted back.

Good enough. There was no way he could claim he hadn't accepted the challenge now, so it was time to go through with his plan. And while he had a trick or two in store for Mousse if it came to that, the first part of that plan was to get off to a fast start and try to overwhelm Mousse before he was ready. Normally didn't make for the most interesting of fights, but this was too important to play around.

Pumping his body with ki and dashing forward, he was pleased to see Mousse really was caught flat-footed, and decided to try to end this quickly with some well placed pressure points. His first point would leave Mousse writhing on the floor in pain for several minutes, and his aim was perfect, but it didn't give as much as it should have when he hit.

It took Ranma only the barest of moments to realize what was wrong, as Mousse was actually wearing chain mail under that robe of his. Ranma wasn't really trained enough in pressure points to try to trigger any through this protection, so he made a flash decision to pummel him into submission instead. Sure there were a few pressure points that were unprotected, on his hands and face for example, but there weren't any he knew of that would be of a more use in a fight than just attacking the target in a more traditional manner.

So Ranma sent blow after blow at Mousse at high speed, and while Mousse managed to protect his most vulnerable areas and block some of his blows, a number of them were getting through and he could see by the look on his face they were hurting even through the chain mail. Ranma was avoiding any throws sticking to a quick combination of blows to keep him off-balance and not let him get any distance. Mousse was most dangerous at range, and he didn't want to underestimate his opponent. If he really was that much better than he used to be, doing so could be a disaster.

After a particularly vicious knee to Mousse's gut, Ranma thought he might actually be ending it this quickly, but a flash of light alerted him to dagger Mousse had slipped into his hand and was now swinging in an arc that would slice into Ranma's attacking arm. He pulled it back in time to dodge the weapon, but the break in his assault allowed Mousse to scamper away, throwing a whole volley of knives Ranma's way to cover his retreat.

"You're better than I anticipated," Mousse said, dodging a quick Moko Takabisha Ranma sent his way as he continued his offensive despite Mousse chattering on. "And obviously not holding back. But I can't afford to lose this, so I'll go right into my own ultimate attack. Prepare to enter the Lair of the Spider."

Chains then flew from both his sleeves, and Ranma jumped back defensively, although oddly enough none of the chains seemed to be aimed at him. Even that was far from the strangest part. There were five chains in all, three from one his right sleeve and two from the left. At the end of them were attached what looked like some kind of human sized, inflatable doll. Each one was dressed in a robe just like Mousse's own. Now it was Ranma's turn to try to buy for time, hoping to figure out just what sort of attack this was before it was used on him.

"Lair of the Spider?" Ranma asked as he kept his distance. "Spiders have eight legs. I only see five."

"So I haven't perfected it yet," Mousse answered huffily. "I'll get it up to eight eventually."

"So save the name for when it's finished," Ranma suggested. "Name it after some other animal until then."

"There aren't any animals with five legs, you idiot," Mousse shouted back, succeeding in annoying Ranma even if his plan to keep him talking was working.

But what did they do? Where they traps set to explode? Just a stupid distraction? This was Mousse after all. It could be the Fist of the White Swan all over again. But it wasn't safe to assume that, and Mousse wasn't giving anything away. Better fire back a response though before he got bored and started attacking.

"So call it Lair of the Crippled Fly or something for now," Ranma suggested.

"The only thing crippled about this attack is my opponent when I'm through with them," Mousse declared, his dummies swinging into action as the five of them converged on him.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing he could have said there.

As they moved toward him, the dummies began spinning, but their true purpose became clear a moment later when weapons started flying at high speed from the spinning objects. Ranma dodged the first volley, bringing up his Seikuken to help keep from becoming a pincushion as he tried to figure out what to do. The number of objects coming at him was impressive, and the choice of weapons as weird as ever. Oh sure there were a number of your standard bladed weapons, but there were also quite a few bricks, a mace, and ... was that an old phone?

How to counter this though? Going straight for Mousse seemed like the obvious option, but it was very risky. He was staying at range and keeping all of them on one side of him, but he'd have to charge right into the fray to get at Mousse, which would send the danger of getting skewered through the roof. Might be best to take out a few of these things first.

Bending his head to the side as a full sized nodachi passed by, Ranma fired a Moko Takabisha at the closest one, before turning and firing another quick one off at another one in the other direction. Both of them managed to avoid the chi attacks, but just barely. Watching them react, it was clear that Mousse couldn't move them very quickly, a fatal flaw in this technique that Ranma was about to expose.

Sprinting toward the closest one, Ranma watched Mousse try to move it away from him, but even forcing Ranma to dodge everything from shuriken to a coat rack, it wasn't retreating nearly fast enough, and Ranma had almost closed to within striking distance. Having caught up, Ranma snatched a knife out of the air and slashed at the thing, deciding to find out if it really was full of air.

But before he could connect, the stupid thing jerked away at a far greater speed than anything it had yet shown. Worse, while he was standing there stunned for a moment, the other four of them were also maneuvered at high speed and were now surrounding him.

"You might want to take this opportunity to surrender," Mousse told him arrogantly. "Otherwise, this could get very ugly."

"Never," Ranma swore, as he tightened his aura around him, deciding to put his newly learned Ryuusei Seikuken to the test.

As the swarm of attacks began again, he was grateful he had. Even with all that training with Shigure, trying to dodge attacks coming from all directions was a whole nother beast. For the most part he was avoiding all the attacks so far, but despite how easily he was making it seem as he weaved through pitchforks and horseshoes, and hundreds of other items with minimal movement, it was a struggle. He'd even allowed one sword to make a shallow cut on his left arm just below the shoulder because he couldn't see any way to dodge completely.

Worse, he wasn't getting the slightest opening to attack, and he wasn't sure he could keep dodging these things forever. But what else could he do? He'd been trying to predict Mousse's moves but there were just too many points of attack and far too crazy a variety of weapons. How was he supposed to figure out whether the next thing thrown at him was going to be a dagger or a crowbar?

Although there was something odd about the attacks. As much as they were far more dangerous than anything Mousse had used on him in the past, he almost got the feeling that there was just something lacking in them. A moment later, as he contorted his body to squeeze through a lamp, a rake, and a decently sized safe, he figured out what it was. He should have noticed it out sooner, since it was just like his training with Shigure.

He was never quite certain just how serious Mousse had been about killing him in the past, but whether he actually wanted him dead or just knew Ranma was too good to be finished off by his second rate attacks, the Joketsuzoku boy had never held back any potentially fatal attacks. But it only made sense that he would now, since the whole point of this fight was to get Ranma to help him, and he couldn't very much do that from six feet under. Yes, knowing that helped some, and he was starting to put together a basic outline for a plan, but he still needed a little breathing room. This was going to be a rather large gamble, but he couldn't afford to wait much longer.

Firing a Moko Takabisha off at one of the spinning figures, he hardly spent the time to watch it dodge as he continued to fire attack after attack off its companions. Ranma had gotten better at minimizing the brief loss of control over his ki enhancing ability when he fired them off, but with so many in rapid succession, there was a bit of a tradeoff as a shot put slammed into his shoulder and a shuriken sliced a shallow cut from his calf.

It made it easier to take this risk knowing that nothing fatal would be coming his way, so Ranma ignored those wounds as he continued his assault. Even as every Moko Takabisha missed and did little more than make a light show for anyone who happened to be staring up in the sky, he stubbornly pressed on, taking a few more glancing blows in the process.

"You're getting desperate," Mousse claimed, his voice making it clear how certain he was in his victory. "That won't work, so just make this easier on both of us and give up."

But his words couldn't have come at a better time, as Ranma had just succeeded in the first step of his plan. One of the Mousse dolls was directly behind him as he abandoned his fixed position and ran full-throttle straight for his opponent. As he moved closer, two of the other dolls now found their line of fire temporarily blocked by their own little friends. That left only three with a clear attack path to Ranma. This technique may have been too complicated to predict exactly what would happen, but it hadn't been too hard to figure out how Mousse liked to dodge with them and manipulate them into this position.

Ranma expanded his aura outward again, reverting back to the regular Seikuken as he was pleased to confirm several objects homing in on him from behind. Mousse, meanwhile, was preparing to meet him head-on. When he was only a few feet from his target, and the weapons chasing him even closer to Ranma than that, he pivoted sharply and dashed to the side, leaving them now flying toward Mousse. The long-haired boy managed to pull a shield out from his robes to deflect the toaster oven, and assortment of knives now heading toward him, quickly turning to deal with Ranma, who was closing in again from a new angle.

Mousse decided to pull out a katana and hold that in the opposite hand of the shield. Between the large mettle shield with a red cross painted on it and the curved blade it looked like some freak combination of western knight and Japanese samurai, although the robe would have quickly broken either image. Not to mention the five chains that still came out of the sleeves and connected to the spinning dolls, that were floating as if they'd never heard of this gravity fellow and weren't about to let him boss them around.

Kendo was never Mousse's style, but the swing that was slashing toward him would have put anything Kuno had ever used on him to shame in speed and ferocity if not skill, and with the shield at the ready, it didn't look like he'd have a chance to break through right here. But Ranma could live with that, since this could be the perfect opportunity to use one of the tricks he had planned.

Stopping in his tracks, Ranma made sure to stay just out of range of having his stomach sliced open by the downward diagonal strike, and the exact distance was key. Because as it slashed open the front of his shirt, the tip of the blade met a slight resistance that hardly slowed it down. That resistance was caused by the can of soda Ranma had taped there before he left Ryozanpaku. A can that had been quite well shaken in all the fighting.

The results were quite predictable as Ranma further tore his shirt apart to make sure it wouldn't block the spray that was now flying toward Mousse. As surprised as Mousse was, he wasn't able to get his shield in the path of the liquid until enough of it had already gotten through to trigger his curse. The floating figures dropped to the ground as if they were puppets whose strings had just been cut, while at the same time the sword clattered to the ground with the shield actually rolling for a ways before coming to a stop.

Ranma began to gloat a bit as he saw the duck partially tangled in the large white robe. He'd even managed to avoid getting enough of the soda on himself to activate his curse, so the whole thing had gone far more smoothly than he'd anticipated.

"Well, since you've been offering me so many chances to surrender, I think it's only fair I give you a shot at it too," Ranma declared as the duck glared at him.

A set of knives suddenly peeking out from his feathers made his answer clear as he flung them at Ranma, who easily stepped around them, chuckling to himself at Mousse's stubbornness. But he realized a moment too late that one of the knives had seemingly veered off course and stuck itself in the now empty robes. Mousse's beak had darted after it, pulling out a now punctured thermos and dumping water over himself as he flipped it. Cursing his carelessness, Ranma was already charging back to Mousse as the boy regained his human form.

Long experience with the curse had trained Mousse to dress in a flash, but he'd regret worrying about modesty as that brief delay was all Ranma needed to get right up into his face and send a palm upward into Mousse's chin, snapping his teeth together fiercely as he followed up with a fist to the chest that dropped his jaw right back open. But Ranma didn't let up in the slightest.

He'd already seen Mousse's self-proclaimed ultimate technique, and if he was being completely honest, he didn't want to have to face it again. He doubted Mousse would fall for the same trick again, so letting him recover was a very bad idea. With that in mind, Ranma wasn't holding anything back this time around. He'd completely abandoned his Seikuken, and any semblance of defense, pushing enough ki into his muscles that he knew he was damaging them. He intended to end this right here.

Using an old trick that had beaten even Ryoga's strong defenses, he aimed punch after punch to the same location on Mousse's chest, feeling the chain mail actually cracking and falling apart beneath the high speed assault as dozens upon dozens of attacks his the same point. He hoped the same was happening to Mousse's ribs behind them. Mousse kept trying to stumble away, but Ranma followed him step for step, not letting him get the slightest bit of space.

Still, Mousse looked like he was still trying to think of a way out of this, so maybe it was to best to really scramble his thoughts a bit. So instead of continuing to slowly wear a hole through his chest, Ranma sent a powerful right straight at Mousse's face. At best this would be a knockout blow, but at the very least it should daze him for a second or two, which would be all the time he needed to finish this. Mousse wasn't able to defend himself at all, as the attack hit him square in the center of his face, easily breaking Mousse's nose with the impact.

Even so, for some reason it didn't feel quite as solid a hit as it should have, and Ranma wasn't sure why until Mousse started falling backward. He'd already started letting gravity do its work even before the hit had landed, and that had weakened the impact a bit. Having offered minimal resistance to the blow, it had also served to speed Mousse's fall as he now rocketed toward an impact with the roof.

Ranma moved quickly to close even that small distance he'd gained again, not wanting to give Mousse a chance to pull anything else out of those bottomless sleeves of his. But Mousse's tricks weren't even necessary, as Ranma saw his arm reaching out toward the shield he'd dropped when his curse had been triggered. Ranma was actually impressed that Mousse had been able to lead Ranma in this direction despite the pounding he was going through.

Impressed or not, Ranma wasn't about to let a stupid shield ruin this for him, and when Mousse snatched it up and placed it between the two of them, Ranma latched on to the edges with both hands, determined to wrench it away and beat Mousse into unconsciousness with the hunk of metal if need be. But Mousse surprised him again when, rather than fight him over it, he crouched his legs from where he lay on the roof and pushed off with them, knocking Ranma back a couple of steps and sending himself rolling backward as he flipped and came to a stop in the worst possible spot.

Not missing a beat, Mousse reached down and quickly gathered up the chains he'd previously dropped, with his plastic minions responding by floating back into the air and resuming their spin. Afraid he wouldn't reach Mousse in time, and not wanting to be trapped in the crossfire again, Ranma had fired one Moko Takabisha at Mousse in hopes to catch him flat-footed before hightailing it toward the edge of the roof. Neither plan worked as Mousse side stepped his chi attack and directed two of his dummies to cut off his temporary retreat.

Thankfully, Ranma had held onto the shield, and used it to block several more bricks, a wooden club, and a pair a steel toed boots that Mousse used to halt him in his tracks.

"Die Saotome!" Mousse cried out angrily, sounding a little odd, no doubt thanks to the broken nose.

Knowing he'd once again be facing attacks from every direction, Ranma still forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down, beginning to tighten his aura into the Ryuusei Seikuken. He'd been rushing this fight too much and gotten careless a couple of times already. Mousse had to be hurting though, so it was time to take a step back and figure out how he could still win this.

Mousse may have just called out for his death, but as Ranma began to dodge attacks, he quickly noticed that this time there were no sharp, pointy objects flying his way. Although as strange as it sounded, that was probably a bad thing. Mousse was going to rely on blunt force trauma to take him out, and it was clear he was going to take the risk that Ranma would survive wherever he was hit, so there was no holding back on where he was aiming. Honestly, if Ranma didn't have the shield, he didn't know how he would get through. That thing was a life-saver at the moment.

Of course that still left him in the same boat he was in earlier. He was avoiding being taken out, but was completely on the defensive with no opening to attack. Ranma was racking his brains for some way to turn this around when he was a little slow with getting his shield up and was slammed in the left shoulder with a cinderblock. Getting thrown off by the impact, Ranma took a hubcap to the shins and a lead pipe to his side before he recovered himself. But the worst part wasn't the new bruises that were forming, it was the fact that he should have been able to defend that attack in time.

It was clear he had once again damaged his own body by pumping too much ki into it and was paying the price for it. This fight just went from bad to desperate if his body wouldn't even move like it was supposed to. Ranma had to make one last gamble on the Saotome Secret Technique. He'd gotten pretty close to the edge of the roof on his last attempt at using it, so a mad dash for it now just might work.

Spinning back away from Mousse and his stupid, bloody face, Ranma sprinted straight for the edge. Blocking everything Mousse used to try to stop with the shield and pressing onward, he refused to let his momentum be slowed so whatever random junk Ranma was sure was chasing him down from behind could catch up. Running out of roof, Mousse was forced to move aside his last line of defense, so Ranma wouldn't be able to destroy the target that had previously been directly in his path.

With nothing left to stop him, Ranma leaped forward, preparing to dive off the roof and out of sight, but his eyes widened as something rose up from over the edge of the roof barely a foot in front of him. Realizing what it was, and how he'd already let his guard down with his shield, Ranma prepared for the worst. When had Mousse managed to sneak one of those things over the edge of the roof? And when had he ever been this good at dirty tricks?

Those were the last thoughts to go through his head before a bowling ball came flying out of the robe worn by the thing in front of him, a fact he barely had time to register before it slammed directly into his forehead with enough force to stop his forward progress and send him crashing down into the roof of the building, right along the edge.

Ranma got back to his feet as quickly as he could, but he was already being slammed by items too quickly for him to even realize what was hitting him. Especially with his brain making it feel like he was wading through sludge trying to think of anything. Even in that state he realized the signs of a concussion. It looked pretty hopeless, and Ranma felt he was only moments from being taken out without some miracle happening. Mousse must have realized that as his five plastic lookalikes lowered themselves to the ground. Leaving the chains that had held them behind, Mousse walked over to him, carrying only a metal baseball bat.

Ranma wanted to try to counterattack, but his body just didn't want to listen. Staying on his feet and glaring at Mousse was about all he could manage at the moment.

"Just go down already!" Mousse yelled out angrily when he was within striking range, swinging the bat at Ranma's face with all his might.

Ranma at least managed to twist his head a bit so the bat didn't hit straight on, and felt a tiny spark of pride at the fact that his own nose didn't break as a result, which he was sure Mousse had been aiming for. But that didn't do him much good as he was sent toppling over the very edge he'd tried so hard to reach not that long ago. Feeling the fight go out of him, Ranma simply let himself fall, landing hard on his back in the alley below. He thought he may have blacked out briefly as he didn't remember how Mousse got down there with him, but he was now standing half a dozen yards away or so.

"Now stay down and admit you've lost," Mousse ordered. "I don't know why you fought this so hard in the first place."

Yes, he probably should just stay down. Things would go back to the way they were before, just as he'd wanted, and he wouldn't even have to deal with the guilt. No one could claim he hadn't tried to stop this. At this point, there was no one to blame but Mousse for whatever went wrong.

"I'll tell you why he didn't give up!" Ranma heard a voice calling out, slowly focusing his eyes to see Kenichi standing on the roof above. "Because going along with your plans would hurt too many people. Ranma isn't the type of person to help himself at the expense of everyone else."

"Shut up!" Mousse shouted back. "You have no idea how cold-hearted Ranma is! I wouldn't have put it past him to have resisted just for his own twisted amusement!"

Ranma meanwhile was feeling like a heel. Here Kenichi was praising him and he'd been just about to give up. He may be injured, but he could still move his body. Maybe if he put a little effort into it instead of just passively letting Mousse work him over he could still turn this around. Struggling through the pain, Ranma used to newfound motivation to slowly try to work his way back to his feet. Maybe he could even get the drop on Mousse while he was distracted with Kenichi. At least if he could finish standing up, that is.

"And you want to win over Shampoo?" Kenichi continued. "You may win this fight, but is she really the type of woman who would accept someone without the morals to even care about those they're hurting to get their way? Do you actually consider yourself worthy of her if you go through with this?"

You know, Ranma wasn't completely sure Shampoo would care all that much about hurting others, but maybe he should keep quiet on that and not spoil Kenichi's speech. Anyway, he'd finished getting to his feet, but taking stock of his body, and how poorly it was responding, it was clear that he wasn't going to win in hand-to-hand combat, but that didn't mean he was out of options. He'd burned through a lot of his ki, but wasn't scrapping the bottom of the barrel just yet. He could easily dump it all into one big Moko Takabasha that should be enough to put Mousse down for the count.

The only problem was, even with his back turned, he'd probably sense Ranma charging it, and he couldn't risk wasting it on even a glancing blow. He had to trick Mousse into getting closer. Given how bad of a state he was obviously in, that might not be the hard part. He'd probably be all too happy to come at him again with a baseball bat or some other weapon.

"Okay Mousse, enough chitchat," he taunted. "Let's finish this."

Mousse turned to face him, and as angry as his face was, he was half certain he'd pull a Ryoga and just charge straight in, but instead he stubbornly stayed where he was doing nothing. The seconds dragged on, and Ranma was starting to think through some other taunts he could fire off when Mousse spoke first.

"That won't be necessary," he finally said. "I've reconsidered my plan."

"What?" Ranma asked sure this was some kind of a trick. "Just like that?"

"I never really wanted to do it in the first place!" Mousse snapped back. "It was always a last resort. I just realized that even if she hasn't come around yet, the memories I have with Shampoo over the years mean too much to me, and I'd be betraying them if I went through with this."

Was he actually serious? Could Mousse of all people be listening to reason?

"So I'm going to win her over in the here and now, and we can look back on those memories too and laugh about them," he continued, has face painting a picture of just how far off into fantasy his mind had wandered.

That was more like the Mousse he knew. His brief meeting with reality was over already. Still, this was a very odd way for a fight to end. He couldn't remember the last time anyone from Nerima had been talked down from a fight, no matter how stupid he told them all they were being. After he'd had a chance to recover, he might have to ask Kenichi his secret. Could really come in handy at times.

* * *

Kenichi was glad he'd managed to stop Mousse before he hurt Ranma any worse, but he still wished he had a better idea of just what was going on. Mousse obviously had one of those Jusenkyo curses too, an even stranger one at that, so the whole cure theory looked a lot more likely. Still, what did that gem he was stalking about have to do with it, and how would the cure hurt anyone else? He'd have to see if he could get Ranma to explain a bit of it later. That and about a hundred other things. Like how half the things that happened in that fight were even possible. To start with, where had all those weapons come from?

Meanwhile, the masters had moved to surround Ranma, with Akisame being the first to address him.

"There are certainly areas you can improve on, but considering this was a master level opponent, fighting him to a draw is extremely impressive," the jujutsu master declared.

Ranma received several other congratulations from the masters, and Kenichi had to admit he was a bit jealous of all the praise he was getting, especially when he didn't feel it was entirely deserved. Sidling up to Akisame, he tugged on his sleeve to get him to listen.

"Come on, they may not have finished this fight, but there's no way it was a draw," Kenichi whispered, making sure Ranma wouldn't hear his words. "He's beaten Ranma to the point where he can barely stand."

"Oh, interesting theory you have there," Sakaki cut in to say, having apparently overheard despite his whispers.

Sakaki then walked over to where Mousse was still standing rigid.

"It seems our disciple would like to congratulate on your prowess in the fight," he declared loudly. "And say what a decisive a victory you would have had if you hadn't graciously called it off."

He then proceeded to give him a congratulatory pat on the back, an action that caused Mousse to scream in pain as he dropped to his knees.

"I assume you'll be heading home now?" Sakaki continued as Mousse stayed there, teeth clenched firmly.

"Just need ... to rest ... for a moment," Mousse managed to get out, although even that seemed like a struggle.

"Yeah, rib injuries like that can make even breathing a challenge, huh?" Sakaki declared. "Even with all that adrenaline still flowing, I think you almost lost it just hopping down from the roof back there. Especially having drained you ki dry with that weird little technique of yours. Yeah, I think this fight still could have gone either way."

Even with everything he'd seen since he started training, and even done himself, it still sounded funny to Kenichi's ears to hear jumping off a roof spoken of as if it were something as simple as going down a flight of stairs. Still, he made his point.

"Hah, I should have known you only gave up on your technique because you were too drained keep it up," Ranma declared gleefully, as he held a hand out that began to glow a golden color. "I, on the other hand, saved more than enough ki to finish you off."

It wasn't normally the sort of thing he did, but Kenichi couldn't resist as walked over to Ranma, placed a finger on his forehead, and gently pushed. Ranma's eyes went wide as he started to tip backward doing little to stop himself before he landed flat on the pavement.

"What was that for?" Ranma complained, but at least he didn't sound too angry.

Kenichi had enjoyed being able to take him down a peg for once, but it certainly wasn't worth getting beaten up by the boy over one impulsive action.

"Hah you're in no ... condition to fight me," Mousse managed to declare. "Face it Saotome ... if we'd finished ... I'd have won."

"So let's finish it then," Ranma spat back. "I'm ready now if you're so determined to add to your hospital bill."

"You'll regret not stopping ... when I gave you the chance," Mousse vowed.

"Bring it then," Ranma taunted.

"Well now," the Elder interrupted. "I'm all for seeing the end of the fight, but that actually requires at least one you … well … fight."

Even after his words Ranma remained lying on his back, while Mousse glared at him from where he was crouched over, neither moving in the slightest.

"Come on then," Kensei suggested. "Looks like we're done here, so let's at least get them fixed up a bit. I have a new potion that should get them back on their feet."

Kenichi instinctively backed up at that. As scary as both fighters were, he might actually be more worried about whatever concoction Ma-sensei had brewed this time. He felt sorry for the pair, but better them than him. Now, time to see if he could sneak off back to school before they thought of anything else to drag him off to.

* * *

That stuff Kensei had shoved down his throat tasted so bad he almost wondered if Akane had helped him with it, but it certainly did its stuff. His head cleared up almost instantly, and his body was far from moving as he wanted, but at least he could manage to walk without much difficulty. He didn't know if it was actually helping him heal or just hiding the symptoms, but either way, he was glad he'd taken it. He'd actually kind of wanted to finish the fight, but with Mousse obviously in such bad condition, he decided to go easy on him and let him off the hook.

Wouldn't want to end up puncturing his lungs with the shattered pieces of his own ribs. Especially right after Akisame had set them for him. Still, he took pride in the fact that despite all the time Mousse had gained to improve himself, Ranma had already caught back up to him. He was determined to keep up the pace he was improving, so by the next time they fought, he was confident he'd be back to beating Mousse up while only half paying attention. Still, Mousse had made a nice stepping stone on the way to his big goal of surpassing Ryoga again, which suddenly seemed a whole lot closer.

But that was something he's worry about later. For now, there was one last thing about this whole ordeal that bothered him. Which is why he found himself walking through the doors of the new Nekohanten.

"So, you've finished playing around with Mousse then?" Cologne asked him almost the moment he'd entered the building.

"How did you know about that?" Ranma asked, scanning the room and seeing Shampoo standing next to her great-grandmother and setting a tray of food next to a table full of customers. They seemed to be doing pretty good business already, considering they hadn't been here all that long.

"It wasn't that hard," she answered. "When Reiko told us you weren't showing up at school, I called that dojo of yours to ask what was going on."

Ranma might have to talk to them about how much they should be telling Cologne about what was going on his life, but there was something he was much more upset about right now.

"Why didn't you tell me I could use the gem to get back to my own time?" Ranma asked fiercely as he stomped his way over to her.

He may have decided it was better not to go through with it, but Cologne hiding it from him still pissed him off.

"Another easy question," she said, not looking at all phased by his anger. "Because you couldn't have."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked. "You were the one who said that would work. Mousse told me all about it."

"Yes, but he didn't know that I made all that up," Cologne answered.

"You lied to us?" Shampoo asked in shock, sharing his surprise at this announcement.

Idly, Ranma noticed that the customers within hearing looked bewildered by what was going on. Well, if they intended to eat here regularly, they'd better get used to handling at least this much.

"Yes, but it was for your own good," Cologne told her. "As the months went by back then, everyone was getting so worked up about Ranma being gone for so long. You girls were upset about everything you were missing out on sharing with him and Ryoga blamed himself for the whole thing. So I told a little story about how once we found him I'd be able to fix it as if he'd never been gone. It might seem cruel now, but there was more than one of you I was afraid would do something truly tragic before long if I didn't act. It gave you hope until the pain had time to fade."

"Wait a minute," Ranma cut in. "How do we know you're not just lying now?"

"Think about it for a minute," Cologne told him. "That was an ancient Joketsuzoku artifact. If it had the power to change the past, do you think that no power hungry leader in all our history would have ever used it to expand our influence? Or that they'd let me take something half that dangerous and run off with it to Japan?"

"Even if you're right, shouldn't you have admitted it a while ago to avoid something like this?" Ranma griped, seeing her point but not wanting to forgive her so easily.

"I don't think I should be the one you're upset with," Cologne replied. "I know the Tendo girl had some hand in this. Now she always struck me as too clever by half to have fallen for my story. So why exactly did she play along with this?"

Nabiki? It's true that something wasn't right about this as far as she was concerned. Why was she pushing him so hard not to accept Mousse's offer if she knew there was no risk? Maybe she really had believed Cologne's story. No, that just didn't feel right to him. There was still something he was missing, but if Cologne and Nabiki were going to tell different stories, than good luck trying to figure out the truth of it. Maybe it was best to just consider the matter closed. Still, a part of him couldn't help but wish he knew what Nabiki had been thinking.

* * *

Nabiki was currently nursing a glass of wine while on a flight to Switzerland where she had a business meeting scheduled for the following day. Sometimes she wished she had her own private jet like many of her those she did business with. But while the cost wasn't prohibitive, they just didn't see that it was bad PR these days to have such a visible reminder of your wealth. Besides, first class was reasonably comfortable.

Still, such idle concerns couldn't distract her for long as she'd just received a report on Ranma's fight with Mousse. She wondered if the whole thing had really even been necessary. As fun as Ranma was to mess with, this was a bit too cruel for her usual games. And all to prevent something that even to her own mind sounded like simple paranoia. Better to err on the side of caution, though. After everything she'd seen, she couldn't discount completely the possibility of time travel. And somehow, someway, if it did exist, Nabiki was sure Ranma would get himself wrapped up in it.

Making sure that Ranma would make the right decision if that day ever came was just covering her bases. If the process was a little rough on him, well, it might be better for him in the long run if it helped him move on. As for the Mousse side of things, she didn't care what it did to that delusional nutcase. Well, maybe she shouldn't go that far. This event only proved how useful he could be at times. He was easy to manipulate and provided her good information on Yami. Sure she had other moles in the organization, like the one that had planted the idea of bringing Ranma into this and then led him along with stories about sending Ranma's memories back. Still, none of them were as highly placed as Mousse.

And despite all his many flaws, he was probably the most trustworthy. She knew this was a very dangerous game she played. For all she'd ripped into Ranma for endangering her family, she knew that her own actions could get them all killed or worse someday. A sobering thought that hadn't lost its impact in the least over all these years. But what else was she going to do? Ryoga and her sister were never the type to sit idly by when they saw injustice around them. And as involved in martial arts as they were, they were bound to run into Yami eventually. Getting involved could blow up in her face, but it might just be the best chance to see them all live to enjoy their old age.

Of course all her best laid plans were probably for naught now that Ranma had returned to play proverbial monkey wrench in them. For better or for worse, it was hard to predict anything when he was involved.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Ranma's first big fight with one of the old guard. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. With how long you waited for this chapter, and how long it already was, I was actually tempted to push this back to the next chapter. But I felt it would be unnecessarily cruel to leave you all hanging like that.

Back to the story I'll say that it's proving quite the challenge to juggle all these characters from two universes that both have large casts, and with a couple of important OCs thrown in to boot, but I'm doing the best I can. Still, you can expect some characters may fade into the background for longer than you'd like. Just be aware that even if they haven't shown up at all yet, that doesn't mean I've forgotten them.

I have firm plans for some, and I'm tossing around ideas for others. I'm pretty sure I won't leave out any of the main characters, but some of the more minor ones may never make the final cut. Sorry, but while this chapter shows I'm more than happy to mix in random light-hearted stuff, too much will spoil the flow of the plot, and I have some big plans in store.

Hope to get to them soon.


	7. Problems Old and New

Ranko found Reiko waiting for her by the entrance to school and let out a sigh of relief. She'd insisted she could find the school on her own today, but even if her pride wouldn't let her admit it, she'd been worried she'd be late by the time she made it here.

Even more than just for the help finding her way around the new town, Ranko was glad that her friend was still here, because otherwise the whole transfer had been a big waste of time. After all Ranma had only showed up to school a single day so far. That fact only made the news Reiko greeted her with all the more welcome.

"I expect Ranma will be back today," the purple-haired girl told her. "He finished up his fight with Mousse."

"Oh good, sooner than expected," Ranko replied cheerfully.

She'd wanted to go visit him during his training, but Ukyo had insisted it was pointless. He was very single-minded when training for a big match and wouldn't want any distractions.

"Speaking of Ranma, there he is now."

Ranko looked back over her shoulder to see where her friend was pointing noticing a familiar pig-tailed martial artist weaving his way through the crowd. He was actually wearing the school uniform they'd bought, although he hadn't bothered to button the coat, revealing the undershirt he wore. If they weren't in such a public area, she might be praying for rain right now, as it'd make for quite a view on a certain redhead.

"Hey," Ranma called out sullenly as he walked up to the pair. "Looks like I'm stuck showing up to school again. They wouldn't even let me stay home until I'd fully recovered."

"Maybe if you hadn't been up bright and early training they would have let you stay home," Kenichi cut in, as he and Miu walked up next to Ranma. "You look fine to me."

"Training is training," Ranma said with a shrug. "Doesn't mean I'm not still hurting. Not that Mousse got more than a couple of a lucky shots in."

Before anyone could confirm Ranko's suspicion that the fight hadn't gone quite as well for Ranma as he was making it sound, another interloper arrived. Rachel Stanley had seemingly come out of nowhere to latch onto Ranma from behind, pressing her generous bosom into his back.

"Darling, you're back!" she announced loudly. "Why didn't you call your own girlfriend. I was worried sick about you."

"Hey, leggo of me," Ranma cried out. Getting no response he focused his gaze on a tall figure nearby. "Hey Ethan, help get your sister off of me."

Rather than aid Ranma, he turned his head away and hurried into the building at a much faster pace than he'd been walking. Ranko was getting more than a little annoyed by how long this was lasting, and was about to consider coming to Ranma's rescue herself when Rachel released him and twirled gracefully around until she was standing face to face with him.

"I made you lunch every day hoping you would show up," she announced. "So look forward to it. I'll see you in class."

Waving she then bounded off through the small crowd of gawkers her little show had gathered and into the school.

"We should get going too before we're late," Miu suggested.

Ranko realized she was right, but wasn't looking forward to class as much as she should be given that Ranma was back. Even only knowing her for a few days, it became clear that Rachel tried to make a scene in everything she did, and Ranko really didn't want to be pulled into her antics. Still, if half the stories she'd heard about Ranma were true, than something on that level was all but an everyday occurrence around him, and she'd have to get used to that and more if she really wanted any sort of relationship.

* * *

School was as boring as ever, even if Ranma did do his best to find other things to occupy his mind while in class. Lunch was great though. Between the bento Miu had given him this morning, and the one Rachel had handed over, it actually made for a decent sized lunch. Not that he would have said no to dessert. Both the meals were quite good too. He'd already come to expect that from Miu, but Rachel's was excellent as well, even if Ranko kept whispering in her ear that she'd probably bought it.

Sure it did seem odd that a westerner would be able to make a Japanese bento as well as that, but Ranma didn't see why he was supposed to care. As long as it tasted good where did it matter where it came from? He'd have been thrilled if Akane had ever decided to just buy him lunch. He'd have let her claim she'd made it herself all she wanted if it kept her out of the kitchen.

That said, lunch ended too soon, and it was a real test of endurance to make it to the end of the day without jumping out the window and running for it. Most people probably hadn't even registered that the chime indicating the end of the day had rang before Ranma was out the classroom and off at a run. Although that was as much to not give Rachel any time to try something as it was to get out of school. Besides, he had one stop to make first.

Reaching the door he believed was Kenichi's class, Ranma weaved through some students that were just starting to stream through the door, spotting his target sitting at his desk.

"I promised I'd make sure you didn't waste any time getting back to the dojo," he told the boy. "So pack up; we're heading out."

"But I have gardening club," Kenichi protested.

"If you want to waste time digging holes in the ground, then be my guest," Ranma said with a shrug. "But you may want to make one big enough for your grave if you don't feel like training even with Yomi running around all over the school."

"Grave? They wouldn't actually kill me, would they?" Kenichi asked, turning to Miu for an answer.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to spend a little extra time training," the girl replied, dodging a direct answer.

Kenichi's eyes widened, and he scanned the room as if expecting them to jump out at him with a knife right at that moment. "I suppose I don't have to attend the club every day." Kenichi declared.

"Great," Ranma replied, grabbing Kenichi's arm and dragging him along before he could delay Ranma's own training any further.

Seeing that he wasn't resisting, Ranma soon released him, and let him simply follow along behind. Making it to the entrance, Ranma spotted Reiko standing there.

"Hi Ranma," she called out to him, causing Ranma to briefly slow to a walk. "Now that you've dealt with Mousse, you should stop by the Nekohanten more often."

"Sure," Ranma answered quickly, as she was certainly good enough to make for a nice sparring partner. "But don't think for a moment that Mousse softened me up enough to lose to you."

With that taken care of, he sped back up to a light run, holding back a bit to make sure Kenichi could keep up.

"Are you sure she wanted you to come over just for a fight?" Kenichi asked from behind him.

"Of course I am," Ranma replied confidently. "What else would she want?"

Reiko wasn't at all like her mother, a fact he could hardly be more grateful for. Besides, she was a martial artist, like him, and her loss was probably going to eat her up until she got another shot at him. That was all it was.

"Forget it," Kenichi replied and they ran in silence the rest of the way back to the dojo.

However, just as they entered the complex and Ranma was about to head off and start his training Kenichi stopped him with an arm on his sleeve.

"Before you go, I have a bit of a favor to ask."

"Oh, and what's that?" Ranma questioned him.

"Can you tell Miu about your curse?"

Ranma turned completely around to face him, not at all happy with this request.

"You aren't thinking about going back on your promise, are you?" Ranma asked.

"No of course not," Kenichi quickly assured him. "That's why I'm asking you. Anyway, every single person at Ryozanpaku except Miu knows about it. Why do you even care if one more person does? It's just so awkward trying to tiptoe around her, and she's smart enough that she'll figure it out eventually. If you tell her yourself it'll be easier on everyone than if you wait until somebody slips up."

Kenichi did make some good points. Honestly, the curse was embarrassing and all, but one more person knowing was just a drop in the bucket at this point. And it would make things a lot simpler considering how much time he spent around Miu.

"Fine," he agreed. "I'll let her know as soon as she gets back. But don't think this lets you out of your promise. I still don't exactly want the whole world to know."

"Of course not," Kenichi agreed as Ranma turned to head off. "My lips are sealed."

Quickly heading to his room to change out of the stupid uniform, he paused when he saw a package by his bed with a note on. Grabbing the note, he gave it a quick read.

I know how fast you tend to go through clothes  
so I thought these would help. Was going to  
say you'd owe me a favor, but Ranko took  
the bullet for you this time.

Sincerely,  
Nabiki

Tearing it open, Ranma saw several outfits that fit perfectly with his usual style. He really could use these right about now, especially after what Mousse just did to his best remaining set. Just glad Ranko somehow talked Nabiki out charging him anything for it. A favor was even worth than cash with her as far as he was concerned.

Slipping one of them on, he was pleased to see it fit just like he liked it. Satisfied, Ranma made his way back outside bumping into Ma Kensei on the way.

"Someone just showed up looking for you," the man informed him. "I told him to wait for you in the dojo."

Ranma made his way to the dojo wondering who it could be. He hoped it was his old man, as he was still itching to find out the trick to what he'd done. But when he entered, it was immediately clear that the person fiddling with something in a large backpack that was leaning against the wall wasn't his father.

He was was far too small, being a bit on the slender side if anything and probably a couple inches shorter than Ranma. Much to young too, slightly older than Ranma if he had to guess. And as long as he was counting up differences, that short and neatly cut head of black hair would never be found on his father unless he'd gotten his hands on another dragon whisker.

Even going through all those features hadn't helped him figure out just who this guy was. Ranma was pretty sure he'd never seen him before in his life.

"I thought my uncle might just be delusional, but it really is you, isn't it?" he asked.

"Sorry, but could you explain who exactly you are?" Ranma questioned him.

"The name is Takeshi," he answered with a smirk.

"How about an answer that actually means something to me?" Ranma fired back, getting the feeling the boy was deliberately dragging this out, and not being amused by it at all. "You could start by telling me what it is you want."

"I'll get to that shortly," Takeshi told him. "But I believe you'd understand a bit more if I told you that you knew my mother."

Ranma looked the boy up and down, trying to figure out exactly who his mother could be, but was drawing a blank. Didn't really remind him of anyone. Nor was the large backpack or the strange scent that seemed to be coming from it provide any clues he could make sense of. Ranma tried to wait patiently for Takeshi to continue, but instead he simply went back to smirking, probably waiting for Ranma to make a guess or something.

"Quit beating around the bush," Ranma spat out finally. "If you don't stop playing games, I'm out of here. I have better things to do."

"Well that's hardly any fun," he complained lightly, "but alright, my mother is Kodachi."

Ranma grimaced at that. Great, another Kuno. There went any chance of this meeting not turning into a huge pain.

"Okay, I know who you are, now tell me what you want."

"Can't we just talk for a while?" Takeshi asked. "Must there be some hidden motive behind it?"

"This is your last warning," Ranma replied harshly. "If you have something you want to say, say it. If this is all leading to a fight, then let me know and we can get down to business. Waste any more of my time and I'm out of here."

Honestly, Ranma didn't even know himself why he was getting so worked up by this. Sure the guy was rubbing him the wrong way, but he hadn't done anything that upsetting. Still, he meant what he said. If he was going to spar he wanted to do so with his fists, not with his mouth.

"Fine, I admit I would like to see just how good the great Saotome Ranma really is," Takeshi declared, getting into a stance. "I was hoping to chat a bit more first, but it seems I got even deeper under your skin than I expected."

Finally, something Ranma could get behind. He didn't expect this Takeshi to be much of a challenge, but it would be a good opportunity to practice up a bit on his Seikuken. He actually had a bit of trouble forming it with how riled up he was, but after drawing on his Soul of Ice training, he was able to get his emotions under control enough to active it. Takeshi seemed to sense it as the field surrounded him, frowning in response.

Letting Takeshi make the first move, he didn't have to wait long before the boy darted in and sent a fist at his head. It turned out to be a feint as he tried to pull back, but Ranma was too quick for him. Snaking out a hand, he latched onto his arm and casually tossed him over his his shoulder. Takeshi twisted and landed on his feet, but Ranma pursued and threw out some halfhearted punches to test his defenses. Those defenses proved to be outright pathetic.

Takeshi was too slow and too sloppy to prove any real threat. He supposed he really wasn't that terrible, being better than any of the Kunos from his day, but Ranma had moved on to bigger and better things. Small fries like this weren't even good for a warmup anymore.

"I suppose that I should have expected anyone related to a Kuno to be this weak," Ranma taunted.

"By that logic, I suppose I should expect you to be a thief and a coward?" Takeshi fired back.

Ranma's Seikuken started to break down as a flash of rage cracked his Soul of Ice, but Ranma quickly clamped down and got it back under control. Takeshi tried to use Ranma's momentary distraction to his advantage, but Ranma just grabbed the outstretched arm again, moving into another throw. He should probably just stop playing around and finish this.

But just as Ranma's throw was sending Takeshi over his head, he caught a flash of red and saw what appeared to be a balloon of some sort being hurled at him. It popped before it even fully left Takeshi's hand, sending a spray of water at Ranma that he, now she was unable to completely dodge.

Growling, Ranma slammed him into the floor hard, completely losing the Soul of Ice in the process. How had he even known about the curse? Kodachi had never even figured out she'd had one. Smiling to himself, Takeshi hopped back to his feet and darted over to his backpack.

"You held up longer than anyone I've fought before," he declared, as he pulled a very wicked looking pair of clawed weapons from the bag and slipped them onto his hands. "But now that your control cracked, I suppose it's time to get serious."

Ranma's anger flared to even greater heights as she realized that her opponent must be behind her out of control emotions somehow.

"What did you do to me?" she yelled out to Takeshi.

"Oh, you figured out something is up?" the boy mocked. "As dumb as you clearly are, I wasn't sure you'd ever manage, even when I all but spelled it out for you."

Ranma wanted to rip him limb from limb right now, but let the mouthy boy continue. He needed to know how to fix whatever was going on, after all.

"This room is filled with a drug," he explained. "It magnifies all emotional responses. For a Sei user like you, it will completely destroy the control you need so badly for your techniques. However, for a Dou user like myself, it gives me the extra push I need to do this."

Suddenly, Ranma felt a rush of ki pouring from her opponent. Still, Ranma wasn't worried, there was no way she could lose to a wimp like this even with his little tricks. She fired off a quick Moko Takabishi, that was meant to be little more than a distraction, but it turned out twice the size of the little blast she'd intended. Seemed that this little drug even enhanced her confidence. If Takeshi ever pulled this stunt on Ryoga, he'd be a dead man.

Back to the fight, Ranma followed behind her chi blast, watching as Takeshi crossed his arms and endured it, sliding back a foot from the force but appearing otherwise unharmed. Unfortunately for him, it left him in a poor position to defend again Ranma herself. Ranma got in a couple of quick body blows before sending a fist straight at his head, intending to just get this over with and put his lights out. Inches from her goal, however, Takeshi's right leg slammed into her, sending her careening off to the side.

He slashed at her left arm as she passed in a move that could have easily sliced half her forearm right off if she hadn't pulled it away. Still, she managed to avoid any blood being drawn, if only by a millimeter. Good thing too, as the jerk probably poisoned his claws. That fact wasn't enough to keep her from cursing herself out for being sloppy. She was so busy expecting an attack from his weapons, she hadn't even been watching for that kick.

Even so, she should have been able to deal with it better, but her control over her ki had slipped enough that her enhanced speed had dropped significantly. Meanwhile, Takeshi's ki boost left him far faster than he was before. It was then that Ranma noticed that she hadn't dodged quite as cleanly as she'd thought. She'd come out uninjured, but it slashed open four cuts along her shirt sleeve. She knew it normally would have hardly bothered her at all, but that drug of his seemed to really be a doozy. She probably should leave dojo, but all she could think about now was beating him into a bloody pulp.

"That shirt was brand new!" she raged at him, charging straight at him.

She may not have enough control for her more advanced techniques, but she could still manage a good old-fashioned Amaguriken. And she ripped into him with one, overwhelming his defenses as she sent blow after blow into him, pressing forward and continuing her assault until a now rather bruised and beaten Takeshi finally managed to escape, once again fleeing to his backpack.

"I'd heard you were strong, but you really are a monster to be able to outfight me even in your condition," he said bitterly. "But I still have one trick left up my sleeve."

Pulling what appeared to be a cage out of the bag, Ranma's eyes went wide the second she saw what was inside. Takeshi continued to talk, but Ranma was beyond hearing. With her emotions still enhanced, simply spotting that furred monstrosity was enough for her fear to overwhelm her almost instantly as dropped to all four, letting out a loud yowl of rage.

* * *

Kenichi was doing some karate forms out in the yard with Sakaki-sensei when a strange sound came from the dojo. He was curious what it was, and apparently he wasn't the only one.

"I'll be right back," the karate master declared, heading for the door.

Wanting to see for himself what was happening, Kenichi followed behind him.

"Hey Ranma, since when can you use Dou?" Sakaki asked just as Kenichi made his way to the door enough to peek in.

For some reason, Ranma was a girl now and crouched on all four over a guy that looked be a highschooler, but was out cold whatever he was. Ranma then raised a hand in preparation to attack him again.

"Leave him alone," Sakaki insisted as he approached the pair. "You've already won."

Rather than respond in a normal manner, Ranma hissed at Sakaki and then leaped at him faster than Kenichi had ever seen the other martial artist move before. Sakaki still managed to avoid attack, but if Kenichi didn't know better, he'd almost have thought it was a close call.

"Oh, this is the Neko-ken, isn't it?" Sakaki asked rhetorically.

"Neko-ken?" Kenichi asked. "What's that?"

"Basically, it means that he's temporarily insane and extremely dangerous," Sakaki answered, not sounding at all worried despite that claim.

Kenichi, however, was much less calm seeing Ranma now barreling along on all four right to where he stood in the doorway.

"Duck, Kenichi!" Sakaki yelled out, an order Kenichi followed immediately.

A kick from Sakaki then caught Ranma from behind, speeding the crazed martial artist's movement and sending her right over Kenichi head and toward a boulder currently sitting in the lawn. Kenichi thought she'd be flattened against it with how fast she was now flying, but right before she hit, her hands flashed in front of her and the the boulder fell apart, having been diced into pieces. Ranma then touched down in the grass behind it and leaped over the wall, but all Kenichi could think of was how that could have been him.

"I've got to go after Ranma," Sakaki announced. "You make sure to keep up your training."

For once, Kenichi didn't even think of arguing. There was no way he was going after Ranma right now.

* * *

Miu cooed at the kitten she was watching through the glass window in the front of the pet store. This might be the most precious little litter the place had ever put on display.

"Move over dairy cow," Kisara ordered from next to her. "I can't see."

Miu frowned at the insult, but couldn't really get angry with the overload of cuteness in front of her, so she quietly complied. Soon both of them were busy fussing over the kittens and trying to get their attention through the glass, all but ignoring anything else until they heard a thump behind them. Turning around she was surprised to see Ranko crouched on all fours and eying them warily. It was clear in an instant to her exactly what Ranko's behavior reminded her of.

"Are you trying to make fun of my Nyakwando?" Kisara demanded of her, earning a hiss from Ranko as she backed up a couple of steps.

"I don't think that's it," Miu told her, noting just how catlike Ranko's movements were. She couldn't imagine how anyone that was afraid of cats would get that good at acting like one, or why they would in the first place.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," Miu called out beckoning Ranko closer. "See? Kisara isn't going to hurt you."

Ranko looked suspicious, but with Kisara now looking on more in confusion than hostility, Ranko hesitantly made her way closer. When she was close enough, Miu slowly reached out her hand and rubbed it through Ranko's red hair. Ranko seemed to like that a great deal, and lost whatever caution she had, moving in close and rubbing up against Miu. Miu continued to pet the other girl, who now let out a purr that sounded more like a real cat than anything she'd ever heard from a human mouth.

"I don't know what's wrong with her, but isn't she adorable like this?" Miu asked Kisara.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Kisara said, deliberately looking away. "Nothing cute about a girl as insane as she is making a fool of herself."

As if to argue Kisara's claim, Ranko momentarily moved away from Miu to rub against Kisara, before looking up into her face as if demanding attention. Seemingly in a daze, Kisara's hand went out and slowly rubbed through Ranko's hair much as Miu had just been doing before she yanked it away as if it had been burned.

"She's causing a scene," Kisara said, turning her head away again. "If you want to stay with her and embarrass yourself, be my guest, but I'm out of here."

She then hurried off, not even looking back. Ranko immediately turned her focus back to Miu, who pulled a bit of string out of her pocket and started to dangle it in front of Ranko. As the other girl played with it another figure set down beside them.

"Look out Miu," Sakaki warned her. "She's very ... dangerous right now."

His call had started out sounding quite urgent, but seemed to lapse into a sense of confusion mid-sentence when he saw the two of them playing. Ranko, however, didn't take very kindly to his intrusion, stepping between him and Miu and hissing.

"Stop it; you're scaring her," Miu declared, putting her arm around Ranko and petting her again to try to calm her down. "That's a good kitty. Everything is fine."

"Well, you seem to have things under control," Sakaki declared, backing up a few steps to further placate Ranko. "If you can get her back to the Ryozanpaku somehow we can explain what's going on and try to get her back in her right mind."

He then took off back the way he came. She was a bit concerned about what exactly had happened to her friend. Miu also felt a little guilty that she'd been having too much fun with Ranko's state to worry about her well-being before now. So she should probably try to get her back as quickly as possible.

"Well, come on then Ranko," Miu told her as she started to walk off in the direction Sakaki had just left in. "I'm sure they'll be able to get you all fixed up."

* * *

"Neko-ken?" Kenichi asked in confusion. "So this is some kind of martial arts technique? What kind of technique leaves someone thinking they're a cat?"

Kenichi was sitting at the table in Ryozanpaku's main building with all the masters gathered as well. The final occupants were Miu and the focus of this discussion, who was lying curled up next to Miu with her head in the girl's lap, apparently having fallen asleep there.

"The training itself is fairly simple," Akisame declared. "You dig a large pit that the trainee is unable to escape from. Then you collect a sizable number of starving cats and place them in the pit. Finally, you wrap the trainee in fish or other food the cats might enjoy and throw them in the pit as well."

"That's terrible!" Kenichi cried out, even a brief flash of what might result making him cringe. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Yeah," Sakaki agreed with him as he chugged a beer. "It might be a powerful technique, but between the fear of cats and the whole acting like a cat bit, it's more of a handicap than anything."

"Agreed," the Elder contributed. "Better to focus on training without such huge downsides."

Seeing the other masters nodding to his words, Kenichi couldn't hold it in anymore.

"That's not the issue!" he cried out.

"Kenichi's right!" Miu called out, looking pretty upset herself. He was glad at least she saw it that way. "What kind of monster would starve all those poor kitties?"

"That's not really it either," Kenichi cut in, earning him a sudden glare from the girl that made him reflexively lift his arms in defense. "I mean that's terrible too, but what about the person actually going through the training."

"I suppose the training might be a bit on the harsh side for someone so young that they might not even know what they're getting into," Akisame mused.

"Wait, how young are we talking?" Kenichi asked, having assumed this was some fairly recent training.

"Since it worked, she would have certainly been less than ten," Kensei answered. "Probably closer to half that."

"You mean someone did that to her when she was five?" Kenichi questioned, even more horrified than before.

"Or perhaps six or seven," Akisame corrected. "But somewhere around there, most likely."

"That is sad," Miu cut in, looking down at the sleeping girl. "A person should be old enough to really commit themself to doing whatever it takes to advance in the art before they're submitted to any training that extreme."

Looking around the room again, it quickly became clear that Kenichi was the only one here that felt training like that should never be done to anyone under any circumstances. He shuddered again at the thought that maybe the masters were just warming up on the torture they put him through. Would he ever have to face anything that terrible? Time to change the subject before those thoughts became too unbearably frightening.

"So how do we get her back to normal?" Kenichi asked.

"Actually, she went back to normal shortly after she fell asleep," Miu announced.

"How do you know she's fine if she's sleeping?" Kenichi asked.

"I can just tell," Miu insisted confidently.

That wasn't much of an explanation, but Kenichi decided not to press the issue. As long as Ranma was fine again it didn't really matter.

"Anyway, I need to go start on dinner," Miu announced as she carefully stood up and gently set down Ranma's head, making sure not to wake her.

Kenichi had to admit he was a bit jealous about the position Ranma had been in, but he supposed that Ranma wouldn't remember any of it anyway. Hopefully Miu wouldn't take it too badly when she found out that it was actually a guy that had been doing that. While he was thinking that over, most of the masters had already wandered off elsewhere, but Kensei stuck behind.

"Kenichi, have a look at these," the diminutive Chinese master declared, pulling what appeared to be some photos out and handing them over to Kenichi.

Leafing through them, his face quickly heated up. These were all pictures of Miu and Ranma from while Ranma had been under the effects of the Neko-ken. They were both fully dressed at all times, so it wasn't the sort of thing you would normally consider terribly erotic, but the timing on all these pictures was amazing.

Kenichi knew that Miu had just been playing with a cat-like Ranma, but every one of these made it look far less innocent than that. Kensei truly was an artist when it came to photography. Anyone that didn't know better who looked through these pictures would be all but certain to draw an extremely wrong assumption about the two young girls in the picture.

"It was amazing," Kensei declared. "Normally it would never be that easy to get these shots of Miu, but she had her guard down the entire time. It's a shame we'll probably never see opportunities like this again now that you've made Ranma promise to tell Miu the truth."

"How do you even know that?" Kenichi asked suspiciously.

"You were talking openly about it in the middle of Ryozanpaku," he reminded Kenichi. "You have to expect someone will overhear you."

"Even so, I know what you're trying to do," Kenichi declared. "And I'm not letting Ranma off the hook. It's wrong to keep lying to Miu."

"And here I thought you at least would appreciate my work," Kensei said melodramatically. "But if I'm alone on this, then I suppose I'll just have to keep all these pictures to myself."

"Fine," Kenichi declared stubbornly. "Take them back. You never should have taken them in the first place."

"If you feel that way then let go of the pictures. You're going to rip them."

He then noticed that Kensei was trying to retrieve the photos, but Kenichi was grasping them firmly, both his hands refusing to let go as if they had a mind of their own. The stalemate continued for only a moment before Kensei's left hand darted out, poking into each of Kenichi's wrist. A flash of pain went through his hands that forced him to release the photos before he even knew what was going on. Kenichi couldn't help but look on wistfully as Kensei started flipping through them again.

"I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world if Ranma waited a little longer before telling Miu," Kenichi reluctantly told the man.

"Great! Then I'll have some copies of these made, and send them to you," Kensei promised. "After you stop Ranma from spilling the beans, that is."

Grumbling to himself, Kenichi decided to get this over with before better sense came through. Moving over to Ranma, he shook her awake, worrying a moment too late that Miu had been wrong and Ranma would still be in the Neko-ken and angry about being awoken like that. But that fear only lasted a second before it became clear that wasn't the case.

"Huh, where am I?" Ranma asked, jumping to her feet. "What happened to Takeshi? I won, right?"

"Yeah, he was out cold when we found him," Kenichi informed her. "But the masters patched him up and sent him off while you were in the Neko-ken."

"Ah, so you already know what that is, huh?" Ranma said a bit sheepishly. "Anyway, I didn't do anything embarrassing while I was like that, did I?"

That's it! This was the perfect excuse.

"Well, about that," Kenichi said. "You might want to hold off a while on telling Miu about your curse. It probably wouldn't end well for you if she found out you were actually a guy right now."

"Aw man, seriously?" Ranma complained. "What happened?"

"Probably better you don't know," Kenichi answered.

"Well, if you say so. Wasn't exactly eager to explain it in the first place. If you think it's that bad than I'm all for putting it off."

Kenichi silently asked Miu for her forgiveness for doing this. But Ranma didn't seem like the type of person to take advantage of this, so it was okay, right? Oh who was he kidding? His hormones were going to end up getting him killed. But if Ma-sensei kept coming through, it might just be worth it.

* * *

Ranma looked at the food Miu was setting down, but was still a bit distracted by thoughts of what he'd done while he was under the Neko-ken. What was so terrible that Kenichi wouldn't even tell him?

"So, who exactly was it that trained you in the Neko-ken, Ranko?" Miu asked her, as she placed the last dish on the table and sat down to her right.

"Just my ..." Ranma started to say 'my father' but caught herself. Would it give anything away if she said that? She wished she'd just gotten this out in the open earlier. Hard to keep track of stuff when you kept a lie going this long. "... well some old idiot that used to train me."

"Well I'd like to have a word with whomever it is if I ever get the chance," Miu said icily.

"Speaking of the Neko-ken," Ranma said. "A bunch of martial arts masters like you guys, I don't suppose any of you would know how to cure it would you?"

"Getting rid of a phobia isn't an easy process," Akisame answered. "For one as old and deeply ingrained as this, it would take a very long time if it were ever successful at all."

Not the news Ranma wanted to hear even if he was expecting it. When was there ever an easy fix to one of his problems?

"Of course that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do to help," Kensei declared, quickly catching Ranma's attention.

"Ooh, Apachai wants to help!" the huge muay thai master called out excitedly, before his face went blank. "How do we help?"

"Tell me, what's the biggest weakness of the Neko-ken?" Kensei asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that it makes me go completely crazy," Ranma answered snidely.

"Wrong answer, kid," Sakaki cut in. "I saw for myself, and you're still pretty tough for your age like that. Sure it has its downsides, but in some ways you're even more dangerous like that."

"Exactly," Kensei agreed. "No, the biggest weakness is the period when you're gripped by the fear, but haven't fallen into the Neko-ken yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd wager that when you see a cat you instinctively freeze up?"

"I'm not that bad," Ranma insisted stubbornly, right before going stiff as a board when she heard what sounded like a cat's meow from nearby. Only it had actually come from Shigure, she realized sheepishly.

"That was pretty good," Kenichi declared cheerfully, wilting a moment later when Ranma sent him a glare.

"It was a little off though," Miu insisted opening her mouth explain further before being cut off by Kensei.

"Back to the point," the man declared. "That reaction would get you killed if it happened against the wrong opponent. So what we need to do is train your body to react in more useful manner."

"Interesting," the Elder declared. "Yes, I can see a number of ways we might do that."

"Ranko, you don't know them that well yet," Kenichi leaned across the table to try to tell her without being overheard, "but you're not going to want anything to do with whatever they come up with."

"Hey, I'm no coward," she insisted loudly enough that everyone could hear. "If this will work, then I'll do it."

A knock at the door interrupted their discussion, as Apachai stood up eagerly. "Apachai will get it!" he declared. Ranma took the opportunity to start tearing into the food, as Apachai walked over to the door, opening it. Despite his eagerness Apachai just looked on silently at the three people waiting on the other side, but Ranma practically choked on her food at the sight of her father, Ranko, and Reiko. Her pops locked his eyes on Ranma, opening his big mouth.

"There you are, Ran... erk," Genma declared, the ending being cut off as Ranma's quick movements led to a kick to his gut, sending the man flying backward a few feet while Ranma slammed the door shut behind him.

"There's a girl in there I really don't want to know about my curse right now," Ranma hissed at him. "So while you're here, I'm Ranko, and she's Hikari."

"They already told me about your fool games," Genma said, "but you should be a man and stop worrying about what some girl does or doesn't know."

"I'm glad you said that, because that same girl seems quite upset over someone who taught me the Neko-ken," Ranma declared. "If you out me, I might just let her know it was you to see if she'll focus her wrath on you instead."

"See if I care," he responded dismissively. "I'm not the one afraid of a girl."

"Hey," Ranko protested angrily, and Ranma could see that Reiko wasn't too happy about her old man's words either.

"Oh?" Ranma said, smirking. "You really are braver than I give you credit. Considering this place is full of masters on the level of Happosai. And the strongest of them all is the girl's grandfather. He makes the old troll look like an amateur, and would do anything for his granddaughter. So it's quite impressive you're not worried in the least about upsetting her."

The door chose that moment to open again, with the girl in question standing right there. "Is everything okay out here, Ranko?"

"It's fine," Genma insisted quickly. "I was just here to check up on my student, Ranko. You are my student, right?"

"Of course I am," Ranma quickly answered the last part that was directed at her. "You've been training Ranma and I for as long as I can remember. That's why we both have such a similar styles."

Ugh, the two of them were terrible at this. Even if it had been easy enough to get the fat fool to play along, Ranma figured there was still a good chance one of them would blow this.

"Now there's something I'd like to discuss with him. If you give us a minute, we'll be right in," she told Miu.

"Well, okay," Miu answered. "But don't take too long or the food will get cold."

"Food?" Genma asked eagerly, and Ranma had to grab him by the collar to stop him as he moved toward the closing door.

"So what are the three of you doing here anyway?" Ranma asked.

"I was going to continue where we last left off and make sure you weren't neglecting your training," he answered. "Ranko here was kind enough to show me the way to this place. I didn't want the other girl to come, but she tagged along anyway."

"I have a name you know," Reiko complained. "And whatever you're up to, it probably means trouble, so of course I'm going to make sure you don't drag my friend into it."

"Whatever," Genma said, ignoring her. "Now Ranma, you remember that technique you were so excited about. Come back to the Tendo Dojo with me and Ranko and I'll teach it to you."

"You'll teach it to me alright, but you'll do it right here," Ranma insisted. "The masters here are going to help me deal with the Neko-ken better."

"Learn to deal with your fear on your own like a real man," his father told her. "You'll be doing your training in the Tendo Dojo, and that's final."

"And whose fault is my fear in the first place?" Ranma barked back, struggling to keep the volume low enough not to be heard inside. "Besides, that's not the only training I get here. I'm working with some of the greatest masters in the world. I'm not giving up that opportunity to run back to Nerima. So you can give up on it now."

"Besides, they both go to school here now," Reiko pointed out. "It would be a waste of time for them to commute all that way every day."

"Fine, I suppose where you train doesn't really matter," Genma conceded, "but Ranko will be training with you. I won't budge on that point."

"I'll help out too," Reiko offered quickly.

"No," Genma insisted firmly. "This is a secret technique of the Anything Goes school. No one else is allowed to see it."

Reiko sighed in defeat at that. Ranma wasn't surprised. As crazy as they were at times, Joketsuzoku understood the importance of secret techniques.

"By the way, does Miu know that both Ranma and '_Ranko'_ are afraid of cats?" Ranko asked.

"Hmm, pretty sure she only thinks 'Ranko' is," Ranma answered after thinking about it for a second.

"I suppose it isn't a big deal if Ranma is outed," she mused. "Miu would just figure that someone who trained both of them would have put the two of them through it."

His old man wasn't slow at picking up what that meant, looking quite nervous again. "Ranma, I forbid you from letting the girl realize you're still afraid as a guy. If you insist on going through with this deception, I won't allow you to do a lazy job of it."

"Hey, this thing is hard enough without you adding extra lies to it to cover your own hide," Ranma complained. "That wouldn't even be proof it was you!"

"I already said it isn't about that," he insisted. "I simply want you to put your all into everything you do. Think of it as a challenge."

"You're honestly going to try to claim this isn't all for your own sake?" Ranma asked, hardly believing it.

"We need to get in there before the food gets cold," her father insisted, sneaking past her, opening the door, and rushing in rather than answering the question.

"Get back here, old man!" she called out after him. "You weren't even invited to eat. And that's my spot."

Ranma chased after the fat fool, but was barely two steps into the room when Shigure appeared next to her holding a cage that grabbed her immediate attention.

"C-cat!" she cried out, stopping in her tracks. She then barely saw a blur in her eye coming from the other side before something impacted hard with her head and everything went black.

* * *

Ranma's eyes shot open as she jumped to her feet coughing up some foul tasting liquid in her mouth.

"See, I told you she'd be fine," Kensei declared, as Ranma quickly took in her surroundings.

She was still in the same spot, but a number people who she remembered being there were gone. In a circle around her were Kensei, Akisame, Miu, Ranko, her father, and a very nervous looking Apachai.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"We started your training," Akisame answered. "We figure the best way to overcome your weakness is to train your body to instinctively fight through the fear of a cat. Associating it with a larger immediate threat seemed like the best option in that regard."

"Maybe so," Miu cut in. "But perhaps we should hold off on Apachai being the one attacking him for a while."

"Apachai was just trying to help," said man declared sadly.

"Don't worry about," Ranma told him. "I've had worse than that. I'll be fine. Anyway where did you get the cat so quickly?"

"Your friend from before left it behind," Akisame answered, and Miu took that moment to latch onto her sleeve.

"I know you're afraid of cats and this is a lot to ask, but can I keep her at least until he comes back for her?" Miu pleaded at high speed. "We'll need one if you go through with this training anyway, and I promise I'll keep her out of sight whenever they're not helping you deal with the Neko-ken."

Ugh, Ranma didn't like the thought of one of those things being around this place all the time. But looking at how much this obviously meant to her, it would have been hard to say no to begin with. And she was right that they probably needed a cat to go through with this stupid training of theirs, even if she was starting to have second thoughts about it.

"Fine," Ranma agreed. "As long as you really do keep it away from me, I suppose I can live with it."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," Miu gushed, engulfing her in a hug. "You're the best friend ever."

A cough grabbed their attention as Miu finally released her.

"Now then, _girl_," her old man said, almost savoring the last word. "If you're fine, then it's time we start our own training."

"Fine then, let's get started," Ranma agreed, freeing herself from Miu and following after the man.

Miu and Ranko trotted along as well, but when they arrived at the entrance to the dojo, Genma blocked Miu's path.

"Sorry girl, Anything Goes practitioners only," he insisted. "This a secret technique of our school."

"I understand," Miu declared, still looking a little sad. "Take care then Ranko. And thank you again."

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret letting her keep that little beast of Takeshi's," Ranma declared from the dojo after Miu was out of sight. "Speaking of Takeshi, any other surprises like him you guys haven't warned me about yet?"

"Other surprises?" Ranko asked in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I don't even know who this Takeshi is."

"You know, Kuno Kodachi's kid?" Ranma explained. "Don't tell me you've been lucky enough not to have to deal with her."

"Wait, Kodachi has a kid?" Ranko questioned him, just as confused as before.

"Yeah," Ranma answered. "Fights just as dirty as she does too."

"Well, you probably shouldn't be too mad at him," Ranko said. "After all, he must still be a little kid."

"No he's not," Ranma insisted. "He looked to be about as old as I am."

"But that's not possible," Ranko told him.

"Huh? Of course it is," Ranma fired back. "I saw him with my own eyes. And how can you be so sure of that when you didn't even know she had a kid?"

"The girl's right," her old man replied, and for a second Ranma was wondering which 'girl' he was referring to. "Kodachi disappeared seven or eight years back, but she didn't have a kid then, so he couldn't possibly be that old."

"Disappeared?" Ranma repeated, hoping for more of an explanation.

"Well, she didn't exactly disappear," Ranko explained. "More that she just ran off. We know she's still alive. She pops up in various places around the world from time to time. But she's never come back to Japan or contacted anyone as far as I know. Now I don't know why Takeshi said he was her son, but if he's as old as you say he is, it had to be a lie."

"Well, I don't particularly care who he is," Ranma said with a shrug. "Not like he's any real threat anyway. So how about you show me this trick of yours again?"

"Right," Genma agreed holding out an arm like the first time he's shown her this trick. "I'll do it slowly this time so you can see what's happening."

Setting her hand on top of her father's Ranma watched very closely for any kind of trick, but he didn't seem to be doing anything.

"Now try to lift your hand," he ordered her.

Ranma did just that, only to have her father's hand pulled along as if they were tied together. Still suspecting some type of trick, Ranma grabbed his arm with her other hand and tried to pry them apart, but they seemed pretty stuck. Smirking to himself, her old man must have released whatever he was doing, because his hand fell away a moment later.

"So what was that?" Ranko asked, obviously just as curious as she was.

"It's a ki technique with two main parts," he explained. "The first part is to meld the layer of ki surrounding your body into that of your opponents until they are like a single flow. Then you force both of them to compact until they're hard as a rock. You can practice both pieces, but first, I'm going to test how much you've been slacking off."

"You saying you want a fight?" Ranma asked. "Any time old man."

"Then we'll start as soon as we see who that is at that door," Genma declared, pointing over her shoulder.

Ranma wasn't about to fall for such a weak version of one of Genma's classic distractions, but activated her Seikuken, deciding to play along.

"What, I don't see anyone at the door," Ranma declared, hamming it up as she scanned the entrance.

"You fool!" Genma yelled out, much closer to Ranma now. "You really have gone soft."

But Ranma simply ducked under the the fist aimed at the back of her of head, sent an elbow into his father's oversized gut, then reached up to grab the man's gi and hurl him over her shoulder toward the door.

"Why don't you go answer it!" she shouted after him.

But as her old man twisted to land on his feet and turned back to charge her again, she saw that the door actually was opening, and Sakaki was walking in. Her father wasn't really a threat to her anymore, so she figured she'd just toss him around for a bit of exercise while she found out what the karate master wanted. Flipping her old man again and tossing him behind her she turned to speak to the man, but froze. With her old man's bulk out of the way, she could now see what he was carrying.

"Cat!" she cried out, losing control of our Seikuken immediately.

That loss of control very quickly came back to bite her as her old man's foot planted firmly in her back, launching her in the last direction she wanted to go.

"Get it away from me," she cried out, crossing her arms in front of her face defensively. Have to at least keep it away from the eyes.

She was stopped before she actually collided with that nightmarish creature, although she'd have been thankful if Sakaki had stopped her a little more gently then with the fist that hit her right in the stomach and sent her bouncing along the floor back in the other direction. Coming to a rest she was finally able to gasp in the breath it had forced out of her. At least she was conscious this time, but she was really starting to think this training of theirs was going to be a lot more difficult than she'd expected.

* * *

It turned out that just about everything about this situation was more difficult than she'd expected. Her old man's ability was no joke, and she still hadn't mastered it after over a week of training. Oh, she'd finally gotten the ki hardening part down pat if she used her own ki, and was briefly hopeful it could be used as a defensive technique, but it turned out to be all but worthless in that regard. The ki from an attack would tear the technique to shreds before the fist actually landed, which was very closely related to the problem she was still trying to get through.

Mixing your ki with another person's enough that you could harden both of them was tough. One guy's ki was very different from the next guy's and mimicking it so perfectly with your own was a challenge even if it was completely static. But ki flowed, twisted, and could change in a flash just based on a person's emotions. Before you could even hope to mimic it, you had to really be able to sense exactly what it was like and what it was about to do, and Ranma had never needed to take her senses that far before.

She had a few successes, if her father set there and let her meditate on it for a while, but it's not like she could actually do that in combat. She had to be able to fire it off in an instant. She was actually impressed despite herself that her father could manage it. Seemed the old man still a trick or two up his sleeve, even if she far surpassed him overall. Still, she was determined to get this down and pass him up on this as well. She just wished she didn't have to do it as a girl.

The stupid Neko-ken surprise attacks could come at any time, and if the masters kept borrowing her pet when Ranko wasn't even there, Miu might get suspicious. Ranma kind of wanted to just tell her, but Kenichi kept insisting it was still too soon.

And while she was going over problems of course there was the whole trying to deal with why Ranma and Ranko were never there at the same time thing. The excuse they were using was just that Ranma had his own training after school he was busy with and Ranko needed to travel home each night to sleep. She'd slip out each night, hit herself with some hot water, and come back later to sleep.

Although it was getting harder and harder to keep making excuses whenever Miu tried to propose another sleepover. She may have caved that first time, but she didn't want to go all P-chan with her curse. So far she'd managed to avoid doing anything that would upset Miu if she found out about her curse. Well, at least when she wasn't in the Neko-ken. The masters sometimes overdid it with the shock treatment thing. Although come to think of it, it was almost always Kensei who took it a little too far. She might have to have a little talk with him later.

That still left the problem of her father being as annoying as ever with his matchmaking. At least he didn't have a formal engagement this time, but that didn't mean he tried any less to bully Ranma into getting together with Ranko. Thankfully Ranko just ignored her hold man's efforts for the most part. It was actually a bit of a nice break having Rachel as the only clingy girl, and Ranma only had to deal with her at school. Besides it was pretty clear it was all just a game to the blonde girl, and she wasn't even really after Ranma.

But back to Ranko, surprisingly her being there wasn't really a nuisance at all. Well, not directly anyway. There was her pop's idiocy of course. But she didn't get in the way at all, actually working on the training herself. Sometimes she'd chat a bit too, just the type of small talk you generally made with friends. Probably better then spending all this training time with no one but her pops to talk to, since he still chased out anyone else who tried to watch.

Ranma was finally interrupted from her thoughts by a knock on the door. "Dinner is ready," Miu called out from the other side.

It was really that late already? Dang, she'd really been hoping to finally get this down today. Ah well, couldn't get too down right before a meal. She'd get it tomorrow.

* * *

"Can I talk to you in the kitchen, Ranko?" Miu asked as she cleared away the empty dishes now that dinner was over.

"Sure," the other girl said, following behind her.

Dropping off the dishes, Miu looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before addressing her red-headed friend.

"You've been making a lot of excuses, but I think I know the real reason you won't agree to another sleepover," Miu told her.

"You do?" Ranko asked, looking nervous.

"Yes, you've been avoiding Ranma, haven't you?" Miu asked.

"Well, it would be a bit difficult for me to meet up with him right now," Ranko admitted, forcing a very strained chuckle.

"Why? Has something happened?" Miu asked, genuinely concerned for her friend. "I promised I'd help you with Ranma, but you need to come to me with these things, or there's not much I can do."

"No, it's nothing like that," Ranko claimed. "But you really shouldn't trouble yourself. Let's just say that I don't think it can really work out like that between us."

"Why do think that? Does he like someone else?" Miu queried, worried that her friend might have had her hear broken already.

"No," Ranko answered quickly. "I mean, I don't think so. Not like I know exactly what he's thinking or anything. But let's just say that I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel that way about me."

"Have you confessed to him, or asked him how he feels?"

"Well, no ..." Ranko admitted.

"Then you shouldn't give up hope before you even try," Miu insisted. "I'll help you out if you're nervous about it."

"Look, I appreciate how much you're trying to help. I really do," Ranko told her. "But this whole situation is awkward enough as it is. If you get me to start chasing after Ranma, it's just going to make things even crazier."

Miu felt a little sad her friend didn't even seem willing to try, but didn't want to force her to do anything she was that uncomfortable with. She had to wonder if there was some part of Anything Goes training that taught its practitioners to bottle up their feelings and never act on them. Ranko was avoiding Ranma. As best as she could tell, Hikari hadn't even let Ranko know she liked girls, much less that she had her eyes set on Ranko, and it was growing ever more obvious that she had. And even with all the girls Ranma had around him, she had no idea who, if anyone he liked.

Well, Miu wasn't going to give up just yet. She'd just have to be more tactical about it.

"How about we just start with something small, that couldn't possibly be awkward and see where it goes from there?" Miu asked.

"Like what?" Ranko questioned, her tone making it clear she was still very skeptical of the idea.

"Well, can you cook?" Miu asked.

"I've done a little bit of cooking," Ranko admitted.

"Then how about you help me make Ranma's bento tonight?" Miu asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Ranko answered. "I really should be going."

"Don't worry," Miu told her. "Ranma usually isn't back for a while yet. And if he does show up early I'll make sure the masters keep him away."

Ranko still looked hesitant, but since she seemed to at least be considering it, Miu further pressed her case.

"If not for Ranma, then do it for me," Miu told her. "It will be fun to cook something together with you. If you're not going to stay over, won't you at least do this much?"

"Alright, I'll do it," Ranko agreed. "What are we going to make?"

"Well, do you know what Ranma's favorites are?" Miu asked.

"Better than anyone," she replied confidently.

"Great, then feel free to use anything we have," Miu offered. "Grab whatever you need while I wash up from dinner. Just make sure to get enough for everyone."

Miu hurried to do just that, and soon cleaned off everything they'd need to cook lunch for tomorrow. Finishing up, she saw that Ranko seemed to have found most everything they'd need.

"Looks like we're ready," Miu said. "Do you know what do from here?"

"I think I can manage," she answered, grabbing up a carton of eggs and one of the pans Miu had just washed. Expertly cracking them at high speed, she flipped a switch on the stove and went to work on cooking them. Leaving the eggs for a moment, Ranko rinsed off some tomatoes, tossed them in the air, then snatched up a knife and diced them in a rather impressive display before collecting the neatly sliced piece on a plate.

Ranko continued to efficiently work through one dish after another, and Miu found there wasn't a lot she needed to do. Although she made use of herself by adding some spices here and there, and giving Ranko some tips on how improve the flavor beyond the basic cooking the girl was doing. All in all, Miu was enjoying the process even more than she'd thought she would. It really was a lot more fun this way than cooking alone.

"You're pretty good at this," Miu told her as the two of them worked on filling the three bentos now that all the cooking was finished.

Miu also pocketed a bit of food to take to Tora later. Not that she would mention her new pet cat to Ranko, no matter how much she wanted to keep thanking her for letting Miu keep her. She just hoped that Takeshi never came back for the calico cat he'd left behind. He didn't deserve her if he was just going to use her as a tool in a fight.

"I'm not really that good," Ranko replied, pulling her thoughts back to the present.

"If you kept at it, you could be quite the cook," Miu encouraged her, honestly feeling that way.

"Yeah, well, I prefer to focus on martial arts," Ranko told her. "I can cook if I need to, but I don't see much point to getting better at it."

"I don't know," Miu said a little mischievously. "I think Ranma might appreciate the effort."

"Speaking of Ranma, I should get going before he gets back," Ranko answered, giving a quick wave. "See you tomorrow."

"See you," Miu waved back cheerfully. "And don't worry, I'll make sure Ranma knows you made his lunch."

"Ah, yeah, thanks," her friend said weakly before heading off.

Honestly, if Miu wasn't here to help her along, she probably never would have done anything. Well, this bit of matchmaking might prove a challenge, but it was one Miu looked forward to.

* * *

The next morning, Miu made an extra show of handing Ranma the bento when he came to grab one.

"Ranko made this for you last night," she informed him, "She worked really hard on it, so be sure to thank her."

"Sure, I'll do that," Ranma agreed, casually. "Now we'd better get going."

Almost no reaction, Miu thought with a pout. Hikari must have been right. He really did just think of her just like he would a guy friend. Well, Miu would just have to see what else she could do to make sure he realized that she was also an attractive young woman. She was really starting to get fired up over this. When she was through, Ranma wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

This training of Genma's was really messing with Ranko's head. She saw plenty of Ranma's male form in school, but the majority of her interaction with the younger Saotome was during the training at Ryozanpaku. The problem was that dealing so much with Ranma as a female was making Ranko think of Ranma like that by default. She knew Ranma thought of herself ... er there she just did it again. Ranma thought of _himself_ as a guy. And as much as she wanted Ranma to become as comfortable as possible in her cursed form, her Aunt had warned her that Ranma would always consider himself a guy.

So it almost felt a little wrong to not think of him the same way. A guy who just happened to turn in a delectable little redhead. Yet her mind seemed to have other ideas. She even found herself picturing Ranma as a girl in her head when remembering events where she'd clearly been a guy at the time. Maybe she was making too big of a deal about this. Humans just weren't meant to have to deal with people who could switch genders. It was to be expected it would play games with peoples' minds, right?

Anyway, she should get back to focusing on her training. She really was excited to learn this trick of Genma's. She knew it wouldn't be enough to let her catch up to her friend Reiko, but simply sending Reiko to the mat once or twice with a surprise ability would be a huge victory in her mind. Such events were few and far between, and she treasured every one of them. But she had to get back to work. She felt like she was finally getting close to completing the first step.

Focusing on the ki in her right arm, she willed it to solidify. Genma seemed more interested in getting her together with Ranma than training her, but she'd gotten a few bits of advice from him, and Ranma had added some pointers as well. Putting them to use, she felt something different in her ki and as she'd done countless times already, tentatively moved her other hand toward the one she was practicing with to test it. But unlike every previous attempt, her hand stopped about a millimeter short, as if running into an invisible wall.

"I did it!" she cried out excitedly, holding up her hand for Genma and Ranma to see. "I actually did it!"

She quickly lost control of the technique, and wasn't sure they'd been able to see anything before she had, but that didn't dampen her excitement at all.

"Not bad," Ranma said. "I can tell you, even that part of it isn't easy at all. I'm impressed you got it so quickly."

Not nearly as quickly as Ranma had, she knew. But Ranma was just like Reiko in that she'd all but made martial arts her life. So Ranko didn't feel too bad that it had taken her about three times as long to get this far.

"Thanks," Ranko told her. "Now I want to start working on the next part. Saotome-san, do you think you could use the technique on me so I can see it up close?"

"I'm busy with Ranma," he said dismissively. "You should practice what you've just learned more first anyway."

"Don't be like that old man," Ranma snapped at him. "We can break for two minutes so you can help her out. Anyway, you keep saying she's here so you can train her as well. So train her already."

"Fine, but how about we see if dinner is ready first?" Genma suggested. "I know I've worked up quite an appetite."

"If you don't want to train me just come out and say it," Ranko snapped at the man. "We just started training about 10 minutes ago. It's nowhere near dinner time yet."

She'd been more than a little fed up with having to pry any bit of help she could get out of him, but this was going too far.

"Hold on a bit," Ranma told her. "I don't think this is about that. I haven't figured out what it is yet, but I'm sure he's hiding something. So what is it that has you scared old man?"

"How dare you accuse me of that?" Genma postured. "I'm not hiding anything."

"Then prove it," Ranma said. "Show her how to do it like she asked you to."

"Fine then, I will," Genma insisted, walking slowly over to where she stood, and Ranko held her hand out for him, focusing on it to try to sense what he was doing.

But Genma just stared at it rather than doing anything.

"Any time old man," Ranma said snidely.

"Yes, I would, but it seems my hunger is worse than I thought," he replied. "I'm much too famished to focus on this now."

"Ah ha!" Ranma shouted out. "I just figured out what this is about. I thought it was odd, but you can't use the technique on anyone but me, can you?"

"Of course I can!" Genma insisted loudly before lowering his voice dramatically. "It just might take a hair longer with anyone else."

"How much longer?" Ranma asked.

"Well, I haven't tried it on anyone else yet, but I'm sure I'd get it eventually," he admitted.

"You stupid old fool!" Ranma shouted. "I should have seen it sooner. I couldn't figure out how you could get a sense of someone else's ki flows so quickly. But you can't, can you? You just have mine memorized. You trained me from as soon as I could walk and probably used me as a guinea pig while you were working on this. Of course you'd know my ki like the back of your hand."

"You were training us in a technique you haven't even finished developing?" Ranko asked angrily, having caught on herself to what was going on. "Is it even possible to get it working against anyone you haven't known their entire life?"

"Of course it is," Genma insisted. "I'd have even done it myself, but I wanted to leave the last part for Ranma to come up with. It's high time the boy actually learn to think for himself instead of having me spoonfeed him everything."

Genma probably would have continued his speech if Ranma hadn't snuck around behind him while he was answering Ranko's question and sent him face-planting into the floor with a flying kick.

"What was that for?" Genma complained as he stood back up.

"Just thinking for myself," Ranma fired back.

"Well, next time you should think a little more about respecting your father," Genma shouted. "I'll give you a lesson in it right now."

Ranko kind of wanted to let off a little steam on Genma herself, but she supposed that she could let Ranma take care of it this time. Anyway, it would probably be a while before they finished, so Ranko decided to take a quick break from training to let them go at it. Opening the door to the dojo, she slipped out, spotting Kenichi and Ma Kensei huddled together. They quickly broke apart with Kenichi walking away holding something. It definitely looked suspicious. With the two of them heading their own ways, Ranko followed Kenichi to try to figure this out.

"What are you holding?" she asked him, causing him to jump in fright and hide whatever it was behind his back.

"Nothing!" he insisted, in about the least convincing manner she'd ever seen some lie to her.

"Well, you should pay more attention to where you're walking," she advised, turning to head off in the other direction.

After she'd gone a few steps she looked over her should to confirm that he'd taken the bait and was once again walking off in the other direction. Sneaking up behind him, she snaked her hound around him and snatched what he was holding from his hands. They turned out to be a set of half a dozen pictures, the contents of which were even more startling than she'd expected.

"What is this?!" she exclaimed in surprise, looking through at the pictures of Ranko and Miu in a variety of provocative poses. Just looking at them, it almost felt as if the temperature had suddenly gone up ten degrees.

"It's not what it looks like," Kenichi insisted. "They're only like that because of the Neko-ken."

Oh, so that's what it was. She knew Miu was always the one to get Ranma back under control when she lost it, but she had no idea anything like this was going on. She understood that it was almost certainly nothing like it looked, but these pictures were ... well ... wow. That's all she could think of to describe them right now.

"Please don't tell Miu about this," Kenichi all but begged, bringing Ranko's thoughts back into focus.

"Well, this is a horrible thing you've done," Ranko scolded, trying to keep her actual thoughts out of her voice. "And I expect this isn't the first set of pictures. So I'll just hold on to these for now. Get together all the other pictures you have and hand them over to me before I leave today, or I'll be showing these to Miu."

"I'll do it, I promise!" Kenichi said quickly. "Just don't tell her."

"Fine, but don't even think keeping any," she ordered him. "If I find out you're holding some back, it won't end well for you."

"I won't," he promised. "I'll go get them right now. Just wait here."

Just great, Kenichi. Now she really did have something to feel guilty about. She was actually considering keeping these photos herself. No, she had to do the right thing and destroy them. Holding them in her hands she prepared to tear them to shreds, but getting another glance at the front photo, her hands seemed to resist her order to move. Darn, this _was_ going to make itself difficult, wasn't it?

* * *

Ranma grumbled as he walked away from that little talk his math teacher had made him stay for. Thankfully it hadn't taken too long, but it was still a waste of time. He hadn't even had the worst grade in the class, so why was he the only one asked to stay after? Boring meeting too.

Blah blah blah, transfer student, blah blah, different curriculum, blah blah blah, need any help catching up? He believed it had gone something like that. He wanted to just come right out and say he honestly didn't care if he fell behind in class. He wasn't exactly planning to go on to go off to college anyway.

Of course he knew from experience saying something like that would only lead to a lecture, which would waste even more of his time. So he'd kept his mouth shut as much as he could and got out of there pretty quickly for it. Hopping out one of the windows before any other teachers decided to give him an earful, he started heading back for Ryozanpaku. Not that there was really any huge hurry, considering he'd discovered yesterday that he was already as good at his father's sticky ki technique as he was.

Ranma was pretty much on his own for coming up with the last piece to make it work, and his father would be little more than a distraction at this point. Probably best to see what one of Ryozanpaku's masters had to teach him today instead of sticking to the routine. Although speaking of them, what were Akisame and Apachai doing here in the school? They were currently looking into the windows of one of the school's buildings. Curious as to what they were looking at, Ranma hurried over and glanced in himself.

"Ah, Yomi finally picked a fight with Kenichi, huh?" Ranma asked, seeing him fight the one with the tanned one, Tirawit, Ranma believed his name was.

"Yes, but I'm afraid Kenichi might not be ready for this particular opponent," Akisame answered.

As if his words were prophetic, Tirawit dropped his guard completely letting Kenichi's punch go straight for his face, but rather than ending the fight, Kenichi pulled back his punch, not even hitting him.

"Come on, what's he think he's doing?" Ranma complained.

"Our disciple can be a bit too kindhearted at times," Akisame explained.

"I guess I'll go save his hide," Ranma announced, turning to head for the door as he saw Kenichi get kicked around.

"Wait," Akisame ordered. "This is Kenichi's fight. We mustn't interfere."

"But you just said yourself he's not ready for him," Ranma argued. "And it's clear to anyone that you were right."

"Then this will be an important lesson for him," Akisame insisted. "Far more valuable than anything he'd get out of it if you stepped in."

"I guess so," Ranma said, going back to the window. Kenichi was a nice guy, and he didn't exactly like watching him get worked over, but the kid probably did need this to toughen up a bit.

But when Ranma returned to the window, the fight was already over. Tirawit was walking out the door with Kenichi motionless on the floor. Ranma was about to go check on the boy himself when a bunch of those Shinpaku Alliance guys ran in. Nijima ran up and put an ear to his chest, only to panic and start in on CPR. Ranma froze at the sight. Kenichi couldn't be …? Could he?

At that moment, Apachai burst right through the wall of the building, and Akisame ran in after him, sprinting over to Kenichi and planting his hand into the boy's chest. Ranma didn't have a good view of what he was doing, but a moment later Kenichi took a gasp of air. Seeing that everything was fine, Ranma set off in the other direction, determined to make Tirawit pay. He passed Miu on the way, who had probably come to investigate the sound of Apachai demolishing the wall.

"Kenichi's should be fine," he told her as he continued on. "Akisame is taking care of him."

She didn't ask any further questions, heading into the building instead as Ranma quickly found his target. He was a short distance off standing with the other three Yomi exchange students. That was just perfect.

"Hey Tirawit," he called out to the other boy. "You do realize you almost killed Kenichi back there, don't you?"

"Oh, so he actually survived?" Tirawit asked, sounding as if he hadn't expected that. "Either way he's dead as a martial artist now."

That was completely the wrong answer, as there was no way Ranma was letting him get off the hook now.

"Maybe I should end your life as a martial artist as well then," Ranma threatened, cracking his knuckles.

"You're welcome to try," Tirawit boasted, and Ranma used that as a signal to start.

He wasn't going to play any games at all here, pushing his body to the limits, Ranma danced around his opponent's intended defense, grabbed his right arm and quickly dislocated it at the shoulder. Tirawit broke free and tried to get some space, looking surprisingly calm considering his injury. Ranma stuck with him though, not letting him get away at all, quickly latching on to his left arm and repeating the dislocation process.

At this point, his opponent seemed to realize he was in trouble, but lashed out with a kick anyway instead of simply running in fear. Ranma respected that at least, but not enough to let him off easy, as he blocked the kick with his arm and started to really work Tirawit over. He hadn't been this brutal to anyone since his fight with Mousse, and Tirawit was less equipped to handle it.

To be fair, Ranma wasn't trying to cause him any serious injury, so Tirawit's ribs were probably in better shape than Mousse's had been. The rest of his body, however, quickly came to resemble little more than one solid mass of bruises. Ranma was aiming for spots he knew would hurt and would be painful for quite some time as he healed up.

In less than a minute, Tirawit was barely conscious, and Ranma was pretty sure that his continued attacks were the only thing keeping him on his feet. After a few last blows, just for good measure, he tested that theory, and sure enough Tirawit crumpled to the ground the instant Ranma's assault stopped.

Picking up the weakly groaning figure by the back of his shirt he held him in front of the other members of Yomi. Rachel and Ethan were merely watching him warily, already knowing what he was capable of, but the Russian member of the their crew looked genuinely shocked by how easily he'd won that.

"Look, you want to fight Kenichi, or any other martial artist around here, fine," he declared. "Beat them up, humiliate them, do whatever you like. Anyone who's a real martial artist knows you have to expect things like that. But if any of you try to kill someone I know ever again, they're going be in even worse shape than Tirawit here."

He then tossed him to the ground at the feet of the other three.

"Now go take him to the nurse or something," Ranma declared, and turned to leave.

"Yami may have ignored your running off so far," Ethan called out to him as he walked off. "But I doubt they'll ignore something like this."

Ranma didn't know if that was supposed to be a warning or a threat. Ethan was already a bit hard to read like that. Before today, he would have been sure it was the former, but it was becoming clear he'd never fully understood just what these people were capable of.

"That doesn't change what I just told you," he swore. "So you'd better wait until after they take me out or whatever they plan to do before you go around murdering people."

Ranma knew he was being reckless. Even as good as he was, he wasn't ready for Yami yet if they were all monsters like Sehrul or the people he lived with now. And leaving Tirawit a bloody pulp probably wouldn't even help Kenichi any. I mean if they were willing to kill him knowing who it was that trained him, then they probably wouldn't be scared off by Ranma.

Still, it felt good to get a little payback like that, and if he wasn't ready to deal with the consequences just yet, then he'd just keep working until he was.

* * *

**Notes:**

Oh boy, this chapter was the hardest to write yet. I got stuck for the longest time on the start of this chapter. Pretty much wrote the entire thing in the last couple of weeks or so once I finally worked through it. Basically, I had the fight with Takeshi and most of the details around it worked out for quite some time, but hadn't decided who Ranma would be fighting. I really, really, didn't want to add another OC, but it turned out all but impossible for me to think of anyone in either universe who:

Was around the right strength.

Was a Dou user.

Was the type of person who would would use drugs and fear of cats to win.

Of course I was too stubborn to change my plans to fit another character. And rather than simply using some random one off challenger, that would have fit perfectly in a Ranma story, I had to go and work in a whole background story for him and weave it into my plans for the general plot.

Still, Takeshi won't be turning into a regular character at all. But there will be more to come explaining the questions I left unanswered regarding him.

Now, as to the chapter in general, I know it wasn't as exciting as the last one, but not every chapter will be. Don't worry though. I have plenty of stuff planned that should make for more eventful updates.


	8. Sailing Through Life

"So, he worked him over that easily?" Diego asked cheerfully, having enjoyed the story of Agaard's disciple being so thoroughly humiliated.

"Yes," Rachel answered. "It may have been a short time, but he's noticeably improved from when he fought in the D&D. Ryozanpaku seems to be training him well."

"Of course this does lead to a problem," Diego announced, frowning as he spoke. "Junazard still has a claim on the boy, and he doesn't give up on things easily. I honestly don't know why he hasn't already made his move. But no point in trying to figure out how he thinks. Whatever his reasons, it wouldn't be proper entertainment letting him get his hands on a disciple like that."

"So what are we going to do, steal him away?" Rachel asked.

"No, we're going to kill him," Diego declared loudly, grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

Following his routine, Ranma rushed out of the building after school and made his way quickly back to Ryozanpaku. He was glad to be out of that place. Ranma had almost hoped that after seeing what he'd done to Tirawit last week, Rachel might back off him a bit, but she hadn't let up on her stupid antics in the least. Well, at least she never followed him home, and it wasn't as if a boring day of classes would be any better than her playacting at being his girlfriend.

Yeah, honestly he was finding his training more frustrating than Rachel at the moment. On the one hand, he was finally making some decent progress with the Neko-ken stuff. More often than not now, he would instinctively dodge out of the way of a blow he knew was coming whenever they brought out that stupid cat. Even so, he wanted to actually fight back rather than just run, even if was a big step up from his statue routine.

But completely satisfied or not, it was his old man's stupid technique that was the real source of his frustration. If he'd gone to Ryozanpaku's masters for advice as soon as he found out about the scam, he figured there was a good chance he'd have this down already. That's what he should have done anyway, but his old man's words still clung to him even though he knew the blowhard was just trying to save face. So he'd taken it on as a personal challenge to figure the rest of this out himself.

He shouldn't have let the old fool get to him so much. It's not as if he hadn't come up with his own abilities more than once. Look at the Moko Takabisha and all his original variations of the Hiryu Shoten Ha. Even so, a part of him kept telling himself that all of those were just variations of something he'd already been taught. He'd never come up with something completely original.

Now, just getting better at sensing someone else's ki might not seem very original either, but it was a start. Not to mention that tying everything together and actually mastering his father's own technique before his old man himself would be something he could throw in the fat fool's face for years to come.

Which is why when he got home, he grabbed a blindfold and some earplugs in addition to his change of clothes and water he used for a change of genders. The best way to get better at anything was practice with it, so she'd been working on fighting solely based on her ki-senses. Of course that was the key to her current frustration. It was a rather slow process. She was pretty good now at telling where someone was standing, but trying to figure out the fine details of their movement was another story. And as a martial artist, it was very difficult to fight an opponent when you couldn't always tell where their arms and legs were.

Heading to the dojo, Ranma was glad to see Kenichi was finally up and training. A week was a long time to be out, but then he had been brought back from death's door after his fight with Tirawit.

"Hey there, Kenichi," Ranma called out to him. "Perfect timing on getting up and about. I don't see my old man anywhere, so I need a sparring partner."

"Umm, do we have to do it with you like that?" Kenichi asked, eying her currently female form. "Even if it's you, it just feels wrong hitting anyone that looks like that."

"Then just dodge if you want," Ranma announced, as he blindfolded himself and put in the earplugs. "It's good practice for me either way."

Standing still he focused his senses on finding Kenichi, which was even more difficult than usual given Apachai was the only master of Ryozanpaku that wasn't in the room and their ki felt like bonfires next to Kenichi's candle. Still, even though she hadn't been able to sense the boy, it wouldn't have even been necessary as she heard him trying to circle around her. Someone really needed to teach Kenichi a lesson in stealth or else she'd have to find some better earplugs before she tried this again.

Trying to ignore her ears and focus on her other senses, she followed his movements and went on the attack, sending a punch toward the center of the source of ki. She sensed it moving back to dodge, but charged forward not giving him any space as she sent another fist at the retreating form. But before it could land, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, firmly holding it in place. Confused as to what was going on, Ranma pulled away the blindfold with one hand and popped out the earplugs with the other.

"Looks like Kenichi wasn't ready for this after all," Sakaki announced, as he released her.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked curiously.

"He closed his eyes when you attacked," Sakaki answered.

"It seems the fear of nearly dying fighting Tirawit has begun to seep in," Akisame explained.

"Seriously," Ranma asked a little dubiously. "One little close call and he's going to get all scared about it?"

"Well forgive me for being afraid of something as trivial as death instead of the far more terrifying kitten," Kenichi replied huffily.

"Hey, you try going into that pit as many times as I did and try to tell me your fight can even be compared to that," Ranma fired back, but didn't let herself get too upset from his words. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure these guys will find some way to beat the fear out of you."

"That's supposed to be comforting?" Kenichi cried out.

"It's actually not a bad idea though," the elder declared. "Shigure, I believe you were going to go sword-hunting again soon. Why don't you take Kenichi along?"

"Sure," Shigure answered simply. "But this trip is a trap."

"That's fine," the elder assured her. "This sort of thing is a well-established practice."

"That doesn't sound fine at all to me!" Kenichi complained. "What sort of trap do you mean?"

"Just go already," Sakaki ordered him. "You know we're not going to let you out of this no matter how much you complain. So you might as well show a little dignity."

"Fine, just let me get ready for the trip," Kenichi gave in, rushing off to do just that as Shigure went off as well.

Just as they departed, the last master of Ryozanpaku made an appearance, carrying a parcel with a ribbon on it.

"Mail is here," Apachai announced, handing it over to Kensei who opened it while Ranma looked over his shoulder to see what it was.

Inside was a poster of Rachel and that big guy who ran the DofD tournament, Diego, she believed his name was. The pair was posing in the same outfits they'd worn to that event.

"Bring Saotome Ranma to the exciting Master Disciple Tag Team Match," Kensei read from it.

"Oh? Now that sounds amusing," Ranma declared, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, unfortunately for them, Saotome Ranma won't be going," Kensei insisted.

"What, why?" Ranma complained.

"Yami is dangerous, and it seems they're finally moving against you," he answered. "They probably plan to kill you or worse."

"Oh, let the kid go," Sakaki, cut in. "What are we going to force him to cower in here till he dies of old age? If he wants to face it head on like a man, that's his right."

"Yeah," Ranma chimed in, glad Sakaki at least had his back. "I don't run away from a challenge."

"Now, now," Kensei replied. "I never said you couldn't go."

"Um, you sort of did," Ranma told him, more than a little confused by his sudden backpedaling.

"I said Saotome Ranma couldn't go," he explained, pointing at Ranma's currently female body. "I never said anything about Tendo Ranko. Diego shouldn't have any reason to want her dead."

I suppose it would give our side the tactical advantage," Akisame mused.

"Whatever," Ranma agreed, not liking them being led to think she was chickening out, but as long as they let her go, she could live with it. "This invitation is for tonight, so whoever is going with me should get ready."

"Before that," Kensei began, "from what they saw at the tournament, they'll believe Ranko isn't on the same level as Ranma. Now I believe those pressure points would have been something like this."

Kensei's hands then darted out at a speed that put any Amaguriken Ranma had ever done to shame. But it quickly became clear that some of the places he was touching had nothing to do with pressure points, but were simply done to cop a feel.

"Cut that out," Ranma yelled out, jumping back.

Although she could feel that, despite whatever perverted stuff he'd been doing, he had done a fair job of replicating Sehrul's training technique. It was obviously a bit different, but her ki would have been doing its best to rip her apart if she didn't have it tightly under control.

"Did it ever occur to you that I could just hold back?" Ranma asked angrily. "Besides, if they really are out for blood, shouldn't I be in top form so I can have the best chance of staying alive?"

"Can't argue with that," Kensei agreed all too eagerly. "Just give me a moment to undo this."

Kensei's hands shot out again, and Ranma growled as his hands wandered to where they shouldn't just as much this time around. She did her best to fend him off, but she wasn't sure it made much of a difference in the end. Thankfully, he finished up quickly enough and her ki felt normal again.

"Okay, if the old pervert is finished, who is coming with me?" Ranma asked.

"Well, I have an appointment with a patient I was just about to head out for" Akisame answered. "So I'm afraid I can't go."

"I have some errands to run as well," the Elder added. "Besides, it wouldn't be much of a fight if I went."

"I'm out if I have to wear that stupid mask," Sakaki said, pointing to the pair of objects that had come with the poster which Kensei was now looking over. "Since everyone else is busy, I'll probably go down to the racetrack."

That just left two, as Ranma looked between the short Chinese martial artist and the Muay Thai user that dwarfed him. Considering the former's actions she was really hoping it wouldn't be him, so of course he immediately volunteered.

"I'll go," he declared. "Looks like it'll be fun."

"Ugh, fine," Ranma announced. "Just make sure you keep your hands occupied with our opponents and away from me."

"Shouldn't be a problem," he declared, holding up the poster again. "You get a good look at this girl we'll be fighting?"

Figures. Still, better Rachel than her.

"Apa?" Apachai asked in confusion. "Everyone is leaving? Apachai doesn't want to stay here alone."

"You're welcome to come to the racetrack with me," Sakaki offered. "Help me out with the horses again."

"Don't wanna," Apachai declared stubbornly.

"Fine then, stay here by yourself," Sakaki replied, walking off.

"Wait, I'll go," Apachai replied worried, following after him quickly.

"I don't need anything if you're ready," Ranma told Kensei, figuring they may as well follow everyone else out.

"Let's go then," he answered, and wasting no time, the two did just that.

It should be fun to see where she now stood compared to a real master and not someone like third rate excuse for one like Mousse. She hadn't seen any of Ryozanpaku's masters go all out any more than she'd seen one of Yami's fists do so. Time to see just how much work she had left to do.

* * *

Ranko was doing her best not to panic. She'd forgotten to charge her phone last night, and Ranma had dashed off after school while she'd been talking with Reiko. Ranko had gone to Ryozanpaku enough times now that she thought she'd be able to make it just fine, but she'd made a wrong turn somewhere and now she'd been wandering around for close to an hour and was thoroughly lost.

Taking a deep breath, she told herself that she could get through this. She just needed to find someone to ask for directions. Seeing someone walking her way, her spirits soared as it seemed her luck was turning.

"Hey Miu," she called out to the other girl, running over to her and doing her best to hide her relief. "You're on your way to Ryozanpaku, right?"

"Oh hi, Hikari," she told her. "Yes, I am. Did you need something?"

"No, I just figured we could walk the rest of the way there together," she answered.

"Um … sure, I guess," Miu answered.

Ranko wondered if she should be offended by that reply until Miu continued on her way, walking all of twenty feet to reach the gate to Ryozanpaku. Despite her best efforts to play it cool, she was sure her face was red as a beet. Still, if Miu noticed anything she didn't say, instead pushing open the heavy gate as the two walked in. They were greeted the moment they did by a very upset looking little girl.

"What have you done with my brother!" she called out, focusing on Miu. "And where is everyone?"

"Oh, this is Kenichi's little sister, Honoka," Miu told her. "Now what's this about? Is something wrong with Kenichi?"

"What's wrong is that he isn't here. No one is," Honoka answered. "The whole place is empty."

"Empty?" Ranko asked. "No one is here at all?"

"That's what I've been trying to say," Honoka declared loudly. "So neither of you know what's going on?"

They both shook their heads at that. There were enough people living at the dojo, that there always seemed to be at least a few of them around. Oh, and Genma was supposed to be waiting there to train them, not that she was terribly surprised if he would flake out. Still, not knowing anything did leave her a little worried.

So she found her thoughts echoing Honoka's earlier question. Where was everyone?

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to be training Ranma and Ranko today?" Akane asked Genma, as the man sat playing shogi with her father.

"Don't remind him," her husband told her. "I'd prefer he stay as far away from our daughter as possible."

"Ryoga," she chided. "Don't be like that. You're the one who's always said she should be taught more about the Tendo side of her martial arts heritage."

"Yes, the Tendo side," he argued. "So have _your_ father train her."

"It's still Anything Goes," Soun cut in. "And I trust Saotome completely with her training. I'm not afraid to admit his training gets better results than my own."

"Yeah, he'll great results until he comes up with his next bright idea like the Neko-ken," Ryoga griped.

"Now, now, dear," Akane told him. "Ranko is a smart girl, and not nearly as obsessed with martial arts as you or Ranma. If Genma wants to try anything too stupid she just won't go along with it."

"None of my training is stupid," Genma insisted stubbornly. "The Neko-ken was just a one-time minor mistake that anyone could have made."

"Well, you're not going to get any training in, stupid or otherwise if you don't get a move on," Akane declared, getting a bit exasperated by the fact that he was still just sitting there.

"Just let me finish this game. There's plenty of time left," Genma said dismissively.

"You do realize they've been out of school for a while now, right?" Akane asked him.

"Huh?" he asked glancing at a clock. "So they have. Lost track of time there didn't we Tendo? Anyway, not much of a point in leaving now. Besides, a bit of time unchaperoned might be just what they need."

"True enough," Sound agreed, smiling at the board that had been adjusted by more than one move since Genma had checked the time. "It's your move now, by the way, Saotome."

Sighing to herself, Akane gave up. If Genma was trying to push Ranko and Ranma together that much, her daughter might appreciate some time away from him after all. He'd almost certainly be hurting his own cause to begin with. Not that Akane was sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. She doubted it was more than a schoolgirl crush on Ranma, one it wasn't surprising she would have considering all the stories she'd grown up hearing about him.

Still, it always felt like more than it was when you were that age, and it could still hurt her a lot if it didn't work out. At least Ranko insisted things weren't nearly as crazy in Ranma's love life as back when she was a kid. Even so, she sometimes regretted letting Nabiki talk her into allowing the move. It was a bit extreme to chase after a crush. Not to mention the effort it took to keep Ryoga from turning into a wreck worrying about her.

On the other hand Nabiki had made some good points. A move and some new friends could be a good life experience for Ranko. And it allowed them to keep an eye on Ranma and make sure he was doing okay without chasing him off again. Then there was her own little reason she hadn't told anyone. When Ranma was involved, even if it started as a crush, she wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned into something more. And it was hard to imagine anyone coming along she could trust with her daughter as much as Ranma.

There she went again. She had to be careful or she might end up as pushy as her father and Genma had been. She'd try her best to keep from meddling, but she had to admit, she liked the thought of that match.

* * *

Ranma hadn't expected the directions they'd been given to lead them to a cruise ship, but here they were being led on board by some minion with the ship sailing away from shore almost the moment they were up the ramp. They then followed their guide into the ship to a room with a stage set up. She never really watched any of those public fights that were more sports than real martial arts, but it looked kind of like a boxing ring.

But this was supposed to be some kind of wrestling match, so she guessed they must use a similar stage. Whatever it was, their opponents both stood in the center of it, and the larger of the two moved to the edge of the ring to address them.

"We asked you to bring Saotome Ranma," Diego said. "Neither of you look like him. Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

Well, she supposed that meant Sehrul still hadn't let the rest of Yami in on her Jusenkyo curse.

"I'm afraid Ranma was unavailable on such short notice," Kensei answered. "But I brought the next best thing. Ranma cares about Ranko here as much as he does his own life."

Kensei didn't look at all concerned, but Ranma seriously doubted he'd be happy with just that. Still, what was he going to do? Attack them? This was supposed to be a fight in the first place.

"Hmm, fighting to rescue the love of his life," Diego mused. "I can work with that. I might get two shows for the price of one. Okay, I'm fine with it."

Ah yes, she should have remembered how easygoing he'd been as the referee of the DofD.

"Let's not keep our audience waiting any longer then," Diego continued, as he and Rachel left the ring. "We'll each pick the starting fighter to this tag match, and then we'll begin."

Ranma wondered what audience he was referring to. The area around the ring was certainly designed for an audience, but it was currently empty. Although looking around, there were a large number of cameras hooked up all over the place, so maybe they did have an audience after all.

"So, which of us should go in first?" Kensei asked her. "It's hard to say when we don't know who they'll send out first."

"I'll go," Ranma volunteered. "I'd hate to have it end before I got any exercise."

Not even waiting to see if he protested, she hopped into the ring, a little surprised to see Diego doing so at the same time. It gave her pause for a moment, but she doubted he was the type who would try to finish this as quickly as possible. Besides, Ranma was never one to back down just because her opponent was stronger than her.

Mindful of the fact that she was supposed to be holding back, she reigned in her speed as she made the first move, attacking Diego. But the smiling man simply dodged every attack in an exaggerated manner, almost as if he was doing stretches that happened to cause her attacks to miss. It was more than a little frustrating, and she was very tempted to throw caution to the wind and go all out. But on the other hand, she was worried the results would be the same. At least she spared her pride a bit by knowing she was holding back.

So she looked around for Kensei, seeing the short man doing ... something ... with Rachel. Not that he should have been surprised, but it hadn't taken the pervert long to start harassing her.

"Hey, switch out," she ordered him, heading over to where he was and tapping his hand.

She then hopped out of the ring, as Kensei climbed in a bit reluctantly, still looking back at Rachel.

"Focus on the fight, you old letch," Ranma ordered him, as she watched eagerly to see just how this fight would go.

In fact, she was so into waiting to see them in action that she almost didn't notice that the first attack came from Rachel. Ducking under a kick that swept over her head she rolled backwards and flipped away, landing on her feet a safe distance from the blonde girl.

"What are you doing?" she asked angrily. "They're the ones in the ring."

"You really don't know anything do you?" Rachel replied. "Those outside the ring can fight as well."

"Didn't know, but it works for me," Ranma told her, cracking her knuckles.

She'd be holding back in her fight anyway, so she'd probably still catch most of Kensei's match while getting a little exercise herself. So when Rachel started attacking again, she did her best to play off as if she were struggling to dodge and block the attacks, getting in a few weak counter-attacks herself that Rachel had no trouble avoiding. Rachel's style was a bit unusual, with a lot of wasted movements, but it probably only a three out of ten on her chart of strange fighting styles.

"You've improved a lot since the tournament," Rachel told her. "And here I thought there wouldn't be a proper show. Still, you seem pretty calm considering you're fighting the girl who stole Ranma away from you."

"You didn't steal anyone," Ranma snapped back, annoyed she was going on about that even during her fight.

"Oh, is that what he tells you?" she mocked as she leaped into another attack that Ranma sidestepped. "And you believe him? Tell me, how well do you really know Ranma?"

"Pretty well," she deadpanned.

Continuing to watch the other fight out of the corner of the eye, Ranma had been pretty disappointed so far. There wasn't even much actual fighting. They just kept moving around looking for an opening. She really hoped all high level fights didn't turn into something like that. Something had to give eventually though.

Back in her own fight, Rachel dodged one of her kicks just a little slowly, and Ranma's foot slid across her costume causing one of the girl's breasts to slip free. Ranma quickly looked away, half expecting accusations from Rachel. It was her own fault for wearing such a ridiculous costume in the first place. But turned away as she was, she found herself looking right at Kensei, who had done the opposite and was now staring at Rachel.

This of course broke the stalemate in their fight, leaving a huge opening that Diego took advantage of, slamming into the much smaller man and sending him bouncing across the ring until the ropes stopped his progress.

"Good work, Castor," Diego told Rachel, who had just finished getting her costume back on and whose blank look showed no sign that she understood why he was saying that.

"You do realize you're going to lose this if you can't keep your mind out of the gutter, right?" she asked Kensei, who was standing back up, thankfully not looking too worse for the wear.

At that moment, another masked man ran into the room, heading for the ring.

"Maestro, we finished it!" he called out. "It's ready to go."

"Excellent," Castro called out excitedly. "I was afraid it wouldn't be ready in time. Well folks, to make things more exciting, we've now added a time limit to this fight."

"What do you mean a time limit?" Ranma asked him.

"I'm glad you asked, young lady," Diego answered, walking over to the edge of the ring nearest where she and Rachel were standing. "In somewhere around ten minutes, a bomb will go off somewhere in this ship."

"A bomb!" Rachel cried out in unison with Ranma.

"That's ..." Ranma started to say but was cut off by Rachel.

"That's brilliant Maestro!" she shouted out excitedly.

"I'm glad you think so Castor," he said cheerfully. "Now how about another distraction?"

"I'll give you a distraction," Kensei announced, charging back into the fight, but after a brief exchange of high speed attacks, Rachel made her move.

The masked girl leaned over holding her hand up to the small piece of fabric hiding her breasts from sight, grabbing on to it and peeling it back just a hair. "How about I give you a real strip show?" she asked seductively.

Ranma wasn't about to let her have her way, and ran up to Rachel, snatching her arm and lifting her whole body in a throw. But even mid action, she realized it may be too late, as Kensei was gaping open-mouthed at Rachel, not even noticing Diego coming at him from the side and preparing an attack that would likely cripple him or worse.

The two of them were both about as close to Ranma as they could be while still being in the ring, and Diego did like to make a lot of wasted movements for show, so it might just be possible for Ranma to help Kensei out. Still, with as high a level as the fighters were, she wouldn't be able to hold back if she wanted any hope of that.

Ranma barely even paused a moment to consider the risks. However annoyed she was with the perverted Chinese martial artist, she didn't want him dead, and a man who would plant a bomb on his own ship probably wouldn't worry over killing someone. So she finished her throw and enhanced her body with as much ki as she could stand, sprinting toward the ring and diving through the ropes. She slammed her feet back down into the floor the instant she was through, and used entire body force to try to push Diego's arm off course.

It felt like pushing against an extra thick steel wall, but Ranma still felt it start to shift under her efforts, even if only a few of inches. That wouldn't have been quite enough if Kensei hadn't finally snapped out of it, shifting to the side himself so that the attack merely knocked off his hat, missing his head by maybe half a millimeter.

The whole scene froze like that for the three of them after the attack finished, with Ranma's shoulder and hands pressed into Diego's bicep, as the two of them stood over the shortest fighter of the three. Finally, as if by some signal, they all broke their poses. Ranma backed up and get into a defense stance, Kensei bent over to pick up his fallen hat, and Diego stood tall, grinning at Ranma.

"You've been holding back a lot to be able to be able to redirect my attack like that," he told her. "But you still broke the rules by coming into the ring without waiting for your partner to tag out."

"Hey, your partner entered the ring first, I was just following her," she announced, pointing right behind him to where Rachel was getting up from where she'd tossed her right before her entry."

Diego laughed wildly at that. "I like your style kid, but I'm really getting into this fight, so don't interfere again."

Ranma barely got her arms up in time cushion the blow from a kick that sent her flying toward the opposite side of the ring. Grabbing the top rope as she pass overhead, she used it to slow her momentum, before letting go and dropping to the ground outside. With that taken care of, Ranma turned her gaze back to the ring, needing to find out if Rachel was following her.

When she spotted the blonde girl, she was already much closer than Ranma had expected, hurtling through the air in her direction at high speed. She realized that Diego most have thrown his student after Ranma. As she flew through between the ropes, much as Ranma had recently done, Ranma got into a defensive stance and prepared for the blow.

What she wasn't expecting, was for Rachel to grab onto her rather than turn it into an immediate attack. She looped an arm around Ranma's neck and then wrapped her legs around her, holding on tightly from behind as if she was some kind of oversized backpack.

"You may have been hiding your skill, but I can still help the Maestro," Rachel then declared, slicing an arm down through the front of Ranma's shirt, tearing free the laces holding it shut and leaving her breasts exposed as the shirt flapped open.

Seeing a camera practically in her face move down toward her chest, she growled in annoyance. She didn't usually worry overmuch about so-called feminine modesty, but that didn't mean she liked the thought of a crowd of men ogling her on a TV somewhere. So she reached out and ripped the camera free, bashing it against the side of Rachel's head and shaking free as the blow stunned her opponent. Then, just out of spite, she threw the ruined piece of equipment at another nearby camera, destroying it as well.

Finally, to make sure Kensei didn't lose because of this, she turned her back to the man and tried to figure out how to fix her shirt. The normal ties were ruined, so with few other options, she ripped a strip free from the bottom of her shirt and tied it around her torso to hold the rest of the thing shut.

Finishing before Rachel got around to attacking her again, she turned to see if Kensei's idiocy had gotten him killed yet, but it was Diego who was staring at her. That said, his gaze was angry rather than lustful.

"I don't recommend you destroy any more cameras," he told her harshly. "Avenging a dead lover can be just as entertaining and trying to rescue one."

"Oh, so doing something like this upsets you?" Kensei replied as he flung out his hand.

Three small objects that Ranma couldn't make out flew from his hand, smashing into three more of the video recording devices and taking them out.

"That's it!" Diego shouted, reaching up to pull free his mask. "You two are making me angry."

Beneath his mask was another mask, one that did a fair job of showing off his change in emotion. As did the fact that his very aura seemed to change and darken as it blazed out from him.

"The boss is angry!" one of the minions watching the event shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

"It's not often I get to see that mask," Rachel told her, staying put despite the rest of Diego's underlings fleeing.

"Well, since you're trying to ruin things for the audience, I'll have to make it more interesting again," Diego declared, as he pulled out some type of remote with a big button on it. "Let's change up the time limit a bit."

_He wouldn't, would he?_ But Diego did press the button, and a moment later, the whole ship seemed to jerk violently, Ranma having to actually work a bit to stay on his feet. Then, after it settled, the ship started to tilt, with the front of the ship beginning to slant upward.

"Now, let's see if we can find a winner before the whole ship sinks," Diego then announced.

"Get the girl out of here," Kensei ordered her. "I'll finish things up here."

Seeing water start to rise up past some of the lower windows, Ranma wasn't going to argue with that order.

"You heard the man," she told Rachel, grabbing her arm and pulling her along down the slanted floor toward where the stairs to the deck would be.

She put up bit of a struggle, but Ranma was pretty sure it was just for show. Seemed she cared about her life at least somewhat or she could have resisted much more fiercely. Nearing the stairs, Ranma had to reverse course suddenly and yank Rachel with her as a large section of the ceiling collapsed right where they'd been standing, blocking their path. A fallen pipe then burst, soaking them both with its contents.

"Of course it had to be hot water," a now male Ranma complained.

"W-where did you come from?!" Rachel cried out in surprise. "And where did Ranko go?"

"No time for that," Ranma told her, trying to figure out where to go from there.

Looking at the window, he noticed it was now completely under water. Ah well, the ship was going to sink one way or the other. Kensei would just have to take care of himself. Kicking a large hole in it, she snatched up all the pieces of glass being flung back at her by the water now rushing in and tossed them to the side.

"I hope you can swim," she told a gaping Rachel, eyes glued on her once again female form.

Then, grabbing the girl, he tossed her with enough force to get her through the water pressure. Thankfully, she was skilled enough to avoid flailing about and cutting herself on the glass as she gracefully swam her way to the surface. Diving in after her, Ranma gave the outside of the ship a once over, shocked to see that the bomb had torn free the back third of the ship. She hoped no one had been in that blast zone. Well, nothing she could do about that now, so she made her own way to fresh air.

With the ship now closer to vertical then horizontal, she climbed her way up to a perch near the figurehead, seeing that Rachel had already made a similar decision. Looking around the ship, they'd gotten quite a ways from shore, but certainly nothing she couldn't swim. Meanwhile, she spotted a couple of life rafts filled with masked men rowing away, so it looked like at least some of the small fries had gotten out alive.

"So how do you change back and forth like that? And can you show me again?" Rachel asked her eagerly. "It can't possibly be a trick can, it?"

"I don't have any control over it," Ranma answered, sighing that one more person found out about her curse, and a really annoying one at that. "I need hot water to become a guy again. Cold water makes me a girl."

"Ohhh, I'm so jealous," Rachel fumed all of a sudden, catching Ranma completely by surprise.

"What?" Ranma asked dumbly. She'd never had a reaction anything like that before and was at a loss for how to respond.

"Just think of everything you could do with that," Rachel explained. "Duel identities, deception, and a massive surprise reveal at the end. Even I was practically in shock when I saw it. The possibilities are all but endless. It's an entertainers dream."

"It's really not that great," Ranma told her.

"Is it something you can teach me?" she asked hopefully, completely ignoring his response.

"It's not something I can teach; it's a curse," she told Rachel. "Besides, there are all different kinds. You could end up a helpless animal, or even a completely different personality. Believe me, I've met a lot of people with the one of these curses, and only one of them actually liked it."

She didn't look like she was going to be satisfied with his answer, and indeed, after a moment's thought, she tried another tactic.

"You know my master wants you dead, right?" she asked. "Any reason I shouldn't just kill you right here if you're not going to be helpful."

"One, I just saved your hide back there in the boat," Ranma told her. "And two, you wouldn't be able to kill me if you tried."

Neither of those facts had ever done him much good at convincing someone not to try to off him, and he wasn't too hopeful here. But whatever she was going to say in reply was swallowed up by the sound of the deck exploding outward as Diego's body hurled through it. Ranma saw the man adjusting his course mid-flight, but didn't understand the purpose as he came down hard on his back, sliding along the deck until he was stopped by the entrance to the cabin, which was now just barely over the water level.

"Maestro!" Rachel called out worriedly, but stayed where she was.

As Kensei leaped through the hole Diego had created and landed next to his fallen foe, a camera set on the deck adjusted to their position. Ranma realized Diego had aimed perfectly to have land right in front of it. The man really was crazy, worrying about that in the condition he was in.

"You've won, so finish me," Diego ordered Kensei from where he lay.

"No, rather than that, I'm going to hand you over to those fine folk," Kensei answered, pointing toward a group of approaching boats that Ranma hadn't noticed until then.

Soon enough though, they arrived, and a man wearing a JSDF uniform greeted them as they abandoned the rapidly sinking vessel, Kensei carrying the now unconscious Diego.

"I'm glad to see you showed up," Kensei told the man. "But I hope you can handle a criminal like this."

"Actually, we'll be transferring him to the recently completed Big Lock," the uniformed man answered. "It's specifically designed to handle masters of this level. He'll be our very first inmate."

"If it's the maestro, he'll still find a way to get out," Rachel insisted from where she stood.

"You should be worrying more about yourself," the man answered. "I'll be taking you into custody as well."

"Wait, what?" Ranma asked in surprise. "What's she done to deserve that?"

Sure she was a bit odd and more than a little annoying, but he'd dealt with people worse than that before. Didn't mean they deserved to be arrested.

"She was involved in this whole fiasco," the man answered. "I've got a mountain of charges to write up, most of them related to illegally building a bomb and setting it off on in an occupied vessel."

"She didn't know anything about the bomb," Ranma argued. "So do you have any actual charges against her?"

Rachel looked on curiously as Ranma defended her, and honestly Ranma wasn't entirely sure why she was doing it. Given how flamboyant she was, Ranma expected her to make a scene, but it seemed for now that staying out of jail was a higher priority.

"Well, we don't have any specific charges against her," he informed her. "But our intelligence indicates she's been working with Diego for quite some time. Who knows what she's gotten involved with over the years?"

"If simply working for Yomi is a crime then you better arrest me too," Ranma fired back. "I used to be involved with them as well."

For a moment Ranma thought he might do just that, but then he turned to Kensei. "You talk some sense into her. If I let her walk and she causes any problems, it's my head on the line."

Instead, Kensei positioned himself between Ranma and Rachel, wrapping an arm around each of their waists. Ranma wanted to rip it off, but decided to wait a moment to see what he was up to.

"Now you're not going to tell two sweet girls like this that you have to rip them apart and lock one of them up are you?" Kensei asked.

Glancing at Rachel he saw the girl had slipped her mask off at some point and was giving the JSDF officer her best puppy-dog eyes. Resisting a sigh, Ranma put on her own scamming face, pleading with her eyes to show mercy. The man tried to stay resolute, but couldn't stand their combined onslaught.

"I give up," he said finally. "But you better behave yourself miss. You owe me big time for this."

Ranma saw her start to smile, only to lose her cheer as she glanced back to where her master was now lying on the floor. Well, she could look all she wanted, Ranma was already insane to go this far, but she wasn't nearly far enough out of her mind to do anything to help her with that bomb-crazed maniac of a man.

"Not looking forward to this report," the officer muttered as he walked away. "I just know I'm going to regret this."

He was going to regret this? Ranma had just saved the hide of probably the most annoying person she had to deal with regularly. And now she even knew about his curse? Yeah, she gave it a day before she was cursing herself over this bit of stupidity. A week, tops.

* * *

Arriving back at Ryozanpaku, and happily male again, Ranma was surprised to see Apachai, Sakaki, and Akisame all standing by the wall to the main building not looking to be doing much at all. Ranma had no idea why didn't they just go inside, but it was making him curious.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Kensei whispered to him. "You might not want to go in there."

But Ranma ignored him, heading for the door anyway. They had four of the masters here, plus Ranma himself. What was there to be afraid of? Opening the door, he was immediately locked onto by four pair of eyes, each belonging to a girl, all but one of which looked pretty upset with him. Ranko, Reiko, and Miu where all there, as well as a much younger girl he didn't recognize.

"So someone finally shows up," the little girl said. "So tell us what you know. Where did everyone go?"

"Ah, this is Kenichi's little sister, Honoka," Miu quickly told him politely. "But if you do know anything about what happened, we've all been quite worried."

"Well, I didn't do anything," Ranma told them. "Everyone went off to do their own thing. Akisame had some patients to take care of …"

"So you did stop by today before you ran off to wherever it is you go?" Miu asked, interrupting his list of where people had gone. And now all four girls were clearly displeased with him.

"And not one of you thought to leave a note letting us know what was going on?" Ranko asked him icily. "What are we supposed to think when you all just disappear like that?"

"I thought she was just overreacting when she stopped by looking for you," Reiko added. "But after a few hours of looking all over the place and asking everyone you know without a clue as to where any of you had gone, you start to wonder if something might be wrong. So spill it. Where were you?"

"Well you see, Rachel …"

"You were with Rachel?!" Ranko cut him off in order to accuse him. "What were you doing?"

Oh great, there he went saying just the wrong thing again. How to fix it? How to fix it? He knew from experience girls only got angrier if you didn't answer quickly. No time to think.

"There was a wrestling match," he blurted out.

"You were wrestling with her?" Reiko asked, her tone making it clear he'd said just the wrong thing again.

Okay, do or die now. Had to smooth things over before it exploded. He'd just tell them all at once.

"We got a challenge to a tag team fighting match in a wrestling ring, any fighting style with me and Kensei versus Rachel and her master, but they blew up the boat with a bomb, and Rachel's master got arrested after Kensei beat him up."

Phew, that had stretched the limits of his lung capacity a bit, but at least it finally worked, as their anger was dying down some.

"A bomb?" Honoka asked worriedly. "Is my brother okay?"

"Oh, he wasn't even there," Ranma answered, glad for a change of topic. "He went off sword-hunting with Shigure."

"In his condition?" Miu asked.

"He looked fine," Ranma assured her. "He was up and training and everything. Besides, your grandfather told him to. I'm sure he wouldn't have brought it up if Kenichi couldn't handle it."

Miu didn't look as relieved by that claim as he'd have thought she would have.

"Well, whatever happened, you still need to let us know somehow what's going on next time," Ranko insisted. "Especially if it's something as dangerous as fighting bomb-wielding martial arts masters from some evil organization."

Great, just when they looked to be calming down a bit now they were all getting worked up again.

"Hey you cowards, one of you get in here and help me out here," Ranma called out to the masters he was sure were still standing outside listening in.

But not one of them made any move to help him, leaving him to face the four girls on his own. Story of his life.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Well, on the one hand I kept the wait down to a month and a half between chapters this time. On the other hand, I wish I could have offered you a longer update for as much time as I spent. But hey, at least I'm still writing.

For those familiar enough with Kenichi's source material to catch some of the stuff that's off, most of that is intentional. For example, Diego made his move earlier in the story this time around, and so wasn't as prepared. That's my explanation for the lack of the audience and not announcing the bomb in advance.

Anyway, as I already warned would happen, some characters are falling a bit by the wayside with this huge cast. I'm trying to at least include cameos when I feel they fit like the bit at the Tendo place in this chapter, but I'm not going to bog down the plot just trying to check in with too many people.

Apologies if one of your favorite characters isn't getting as much screen time as you'd like, but that may change. As you've probably noticed, who shares the spotlight with Ranma shifts pretty regularly.


End file.
